Sivills will be responsible for brand and marketing strategy, internal and external communications, media planning, managing and directing the organization’s national marketing efforts, and partnering with CAP’s philanthropy team. Essential duties include the execution of a targeted, proactive year-round multi-channel marketing strategy, the coordination of national media relations, and leadership in the development and delivery of marketing-related training across the country.

Sivills will begin work on Feb. 25 and will lead a team of both paid and volunteer staff members.

“We are very excited to have Catherine Sivills join the CAP team. Her executive-level experience in marketing, communications, brand strategy and media relations will play a key role in helping CAP become more well-known for the many outstanding contributions our members make to their communities, states and nation,” Smith said.

Sivills brings more than 25 years of marketing and communication experience to the position. From 2008-2015, she served as the assistant vice president for Branding, Marketing and Communication for Murray State University in Murray, Kentucky. In addition to receiving national recognition for ground-breaking social marketing campaigns, she led a rebranding strategy that resulted in a refined positioning of the university brand. Sivills and her team also successfully implemented an overhaul of the university website and celebrated historic enrollment numbers.

Most recently Sivills served as marketing lead for the west region of Baptist Health Kentucky from 2015 to the present. She brought creativity to her role while tackling media challenges and generating positive publicity, advancing Baptist Health’s image and reputation. She also developed best practices in the areas of general marketing, corporate communications and the digital realm.

Her portfolio also includes the positions of director of marketing and planning for Murray-Calloway County Hospital and account executive with Sutton Advertising. In addition to her strategic marketing responsibilities, Sivills also served as a public information officer in her last three leadership roles.

Sivills holds a bachelor’s degree in advertising/marketing and a master’s degree in public administration from Murray State University. She also earned a Certificate in Digital Media and Marketing from Duke University and has completed the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s public information officer certification.

Sivills is married to Scott Sivills Jr. They have three children.

“I am honored to join the Civil Air Patrol team,” she said. “This organization is so unique with such a rich history and many amazing stories to tell. I look forward to building more partnerships and working to keep a spotlight on CAP. This opportunity is a privilege, and it’s a marketer’s dream to take Civil Air Patrol’s missions for America and communicate them to the world.”

]]>featureWed, 13 Feb 2019 13:37:01 -0600https://content.presspage.com/uploads/1913/500_sivills1-901674.png?10000Cadets Invited to Participate in Air Force Black History Month Essay Contest on Tuskegee Airmen Influencehttps://www.cap.news/cadets-invited-to-participate-in-air-force-black-history-month-essay-contest-on-tuskegee-airmen-influence/
https://www.cap.news/cadets-invited-to-participate-in-air-force-black-history-month-essay-contest-on-tuskegee-airmen-influence/Civil Air Patrol cadets are invited to participate in the U.S. Air Force Recruiting Service’s (AFRS) essay contest on “How do the Tuskegee Airmen still influence the Air force today?” in honor of Black History Month.

The contest is also open to AFJROTC cadets. Essays, limited to 500 words, must be submitted to squadron commanders in time for them to pick the best cadet essay and send it to AFRS by Feb. 22.

Grand prizes will be awarded to one CAP cadet and one AFJROTC cadet. The winners will receive a “Pilot for a Day” trip that includes meeting Air Force pilots and taking an orientation flight, as well as receiving a flight logbook and Air Force promotional gear.

Winners will be chosen by the Air Force Recruiting Service’s Detachment 1. CAP cadets should speak to their squadron commanders if they have questions.

Information provided by Civil Air Patrol’s National Cell Phone Forensics Team helped lead searchers late Tuesday to a 12-year-old Utah boy and his father lost in subzero temperatures and near-blizzard conditions in the Spanish Peaks area southwest of Bozeman, Montana.

The Air Force Rescue Coordination Center alerted the cell phone team after the child’s mother reported the pair overdue at 6:30 p.m. local time. Col. Brian Ready took the lead on the mission for the team.

By then 20 members of the Gallatin County, Montana, Search and Rescue Team – volunteers within the Gallatin County Sheriff’s Office – were searching on snowmobiles and skis.

Searchers found the boy about 10 p.m. Hypothermic and dazed, he was transported to a nearby hospital. As he warmed up, a sheriff’s deputy asked him questions to try to get a better idea of where to continue the search.

“Gallatin SAR had a pretty good idea about where to look for the father, but the cell phone forensics helped to narrow down the search area to about 1 square mile,” Ready said.

“It was our privilege to work with the dedicated volunteers from Gallatin SAR and help them reunite father and son.”

The father was found shortly after midnight. Despite frostbite, he and his son were in reasonably good condition, according to the sheriff’s office, especially considering conditions.

A member of the Gallatin SAR team emailed Ready a photo of two members of the sheriff’s team with the boy at the hospital. “I was asked to pass a photo on to you and your team,” the accompanying message said. “It’s a picture of one of the individuals you helped us find this evening. Our captain wanted to let you know that what you do matters, and that we appreciate it. And I know there’s a family out there tonight that appreciates you as well.”

Passing along the message to the team at the AFRCC, Ready wrote, “A great result to an awesome team effort. The reason we all do SAR. Please know how much we appreciate your efforts.”

The AFRCC credited the cell phone team with two saves, bringing to 48 the total number of saves for CAP in fiscal 2019.

]]>featureFri, 08 Feb 2019 16:54:00 -0600https://content.presspage.com/uploads/1913/500_mtcellsave-860661.jpg?10000AOPA Honors CAP Pilots As Top Instructorshttps://www.cap.news/aopa-honors-cap-pilots-as-top-instructors/
https://www.cap.news/aopa-honors-cap-pilots-as-top-instructors/Civil Air Patrol pilots account for three of the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association’s eight choices of the Best Flight Instructior by region, while five other CAP flyers are recognized as Distinguished Flight Instructors, based on the results of AOPA’s annual Flight Training Experience Survey.

The pilots represent seven wings in six CAP regions.

The following three members were selected as Best Flight Instructor in their respective AOPA regions –

Civil Air Patrol aircrews in Georgia and South Carolina have wrapped up exercises this week with NORAD-tasked F-16s, refueling tankers and helicopters in preparation for Sunday’s Super Bowl in Atlanta.

In order to test responses, systems and equipment, the North American Aerospace Defense Command continuously conducts exercises with a variety of scenarios, including airspace restriction violations, hijackings and responding to unknown aircraft. All NORAD exercises are carefully planned and closely controlled.

This week’s exercises were coordinated by NORAD in conjunction with the Federal Aviation Administration and with interagency and organizational partners, including Civil Air Patrol.

On Tuesday, media representatives from national and statewide agencies witnessed the role of CAP and its Cessna airplanes in preparing agency partners for an air defense mission. Planes from CAP’s South Carolina Wing, acting as errant general aviation aircraft, simulated the need for F-16s from the South Carolina Air National Guard’s 169th Fighter Wing to respond quickly and effectively to protect the skies around Atlanta.

“The Civil Air Patrol members who participated in Tuesday’s mission in our planning department, communications area and aircrew are representative of the professional members throughout the United States,” said Col. Lee Safley, South Carolina Wing commander. “Air defense and emergency services missions that our pilots help NORAD and other partner agencies train for are carefully orchestrated exercises, which provide the necessary training to protect our skies.”

Tuesday’s media practice was preceded by similar aircraft intercept exercises conducted by aircrews from CAP’s Georgia Wing. “Five Super Bowl LIII exercises have been planned and executed in the Atlanta area by Georgia Wing over the past eight months,” said Maj. Brad Haynes, the incident commander for CAP, adding that the missions that have been ongoing in Georgia since May 2018 have progressively included more agencies.

“We flew the final mission on Wednesday,” Haynes said. “That exercise was designed to include the entire system working together.”

TFR packets, explaining the reasons for the no-fly zone and educating general aviation pilots about how to react if they violate the TFR and are intercepted, were distributed in advance of the Super Bowl.

“We delivered the packets to 62 airports, including not only those in the TFR itself, but also those surrounding the TFR,” said 1st Lt. Steve Strong, the Georgia Wing’s assistant director of emergency services, who coordinated the TFR mission. “The main purpose was to not only keep the big game safe but to keep the pilots in the area safe as well.”

Since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, the FAA routinely implements no-fly zones incluaround major events to ensure no general aviation airplanes enter within a specified radius. During Super Bowl LIII, NORAD aircraft will enforce the actual TFR.

Defense of the homelands is NORAD’s top priority. NORAD is on alert around the clock, every day. For 60 years, NORAD aircraft have identified and intercepted potential air threats to North America in the execution of its aerospace warning, aerospace control and maritime warning missions.

Scouts, band, student council and football were regular activities for this young junior high student in Brandon, Florida. But he dreamed of something more -- something bigger than himself, where he could make a difference.

Ed Thomas, the son of a U.S. Army helicopter pilot, would soon discover Civil Air Patrol, setting him on a career path that has seen him ascend the ranks of the U.S. Air Force.

“I remember thinking it would be a great opportunity, as a junior high school student, to fly airplanes, learn air search and rescue and go to encampments,” said Brig. Gen. Ed Thomas, now the director of public affairs for Secretary of the Air Force Heather Wilson.

“To be able to join amazing people, do amazing things, go to amazing places and be part of a mission you believe in ... it was an opportunity I couldn’t pass up.”

The first step on his journey into a bigger world began with receiving his Air Force-style uniforms.

“The first time I ever wore Air Force blue was with the Civil Air Patrol,” Thomas recalled. “I was really excited to get my first set of uniforms. At the time, they were the dress blues and the green fatigue uniform.”

There was more to CAP than uniforms, too. He learned to march, and he also learned about air and ground emergency services, disaster relief efforts, homeland security, leadership, hard work and how to be part of a team and fly a Cessna 172.

“Ultimately, my favorite part was the camaraderie, the people, and the sense of mission,” Thomas said. “But being able to go up in an airplane and get the controls is one of the things I had a love for early on, and that love has never diminished.”

Another aspect of CAP that never diminished is the lessons he learned, like perseverance, being kind and treating people with dignity and respect, but also learning from mistakes and move forward.

“The same basic lessons I learned getting ready for a mission in Civil Air Patrol, marching in an encampment, setting up tents, going through an obstacle course or repelling off a 40-foot wall are a lot of the same lessons that still apply today,” Thomas said. “It was a true privilege to have that foretaste of the Air Force, to be able to wear Air Force blue, to be a part of an important mission.”

Reflecting on his time as a cadet, Thomas has advice for young cadets and those interesting in joining CAP today.

“It’s really important to put your heart into something and pursue excellence, because it’s easy in life to do half-measures and be mediocre. Pick a few things, and do them well,” he said. “Whether you are going to be an enlisted member or officer in the Air Force, apply yourself and do your best.”

Another analogy Thomas gives is thinking of opportunities as open doors and windows.

“When you are young, windows and doors are open. If you give your best and really seek excellence in all you do, those windows and doors will stay open for you as you get older,” he said. “But if you don’t give your best, those openings begin to close, and, by the time you’re in high school, a lot of them will be closed. It will be too late to pursue some hopes and dreams.”

Although retirement lies in the distant future, Thomas thinks it will be important to give back to the community -- maybe through CAP.

“Civil Air Patrol is one great place to be able to give back. You can invest in the next generation, perform the important search and -rescue missions,” he said. “It would give me the opportunity to fly again. That same youthful excitement of getting behind the stick doesn’t diminish, and I would love to be able to do that again.”

Texas Wing cadet Emma Herrington today became the first Civil Air Patrol cadet to earn her private pilot’s certificate through the new Cadet Wings program — part of the organization’s Youth Aviation Initiative, funded by the U.S. Air Force.

She first took to the skies in childhood, with her father — a pilot, an airframe and powerplant mechanic and owner of an aircraft ignition repair station.

“Aviation is the family trade,” Herrington explained. “These factors, combined with a fascination with anything that flew, nudged me in the right direction. I was 4 when I first started flying with my dad, and I’ve been hooked ever since.

“Flying is a sensation unlike anything else I’ve ever experienced — I love every aspect, from rotation to the chirp of the tires on the pavement. It’s my happy place. I love seeing the world from a different angle, something many people don’t ever get to experience.”

A Passion for FlightWith this passion for flight, Civil Air Patrol was a natural fit for Herrington. She is a cadet chief master sergeant with the Texas Wing’s Sulphur Springs Composite Squadron and is on her way to becoming a cadet second lieutenant.

She joined the Sulphur Springs squadron in April 2017 at age 16, drawn by the commander’s enthusiasm for her aviation aspirations and the fact the unit has a Cessna 172.

“I knew CAP flew missions, but I didn’t know you could train out of CAP aircraft, so when orientation flights were first mentioned, I was ecstatic,” she said.

“I had no idea my first flight with CAP would lead to many more. O-flights are the most important part of a cadet’s journey through CAP, and most importantly, they are free.”

Opportunity to Fly With CAPAfter taking advantage of all five orientation flights offered to cadets, Herrington attended the Shirley Martin Powered Flight Academy in Nacogdoches, Texas, one of CAP’s national flight academies. Through the Martin academy, where her instructor was retired Air Force Col. and current CAP Lt. Col. Brian “Jumper” Childs, assistant operations officer for the Texas Wing's Sheldon Cadet Squadron, she received the opportunity to achieve her dream of earning her private pilot’s certificate in the Cadet Wings program. The certified flight instructor, or CFI, who finished up the bulk of her training was Lt. Col. Stephen Hundley, standardizaton/evaluation officer for CAP's Southwest Region.

An important part of Cadet Wings is that acceptance is based entirely on merit and motivation, Herrington said. “It gives aviation-crazy cadets who have drive and discipline the chance to get their license. It’s the answer for those who cannot afford flight training but are desperate to fly.

"The best thing about Cadet Wings is that you’re trained to fly CAP aircraft and all expenses are covered. Without the help of Cadet Wings, I would have been unable to afford my flight training — sadly, this is a problem many cadets face,” she said.

Cadet Wings is just one of many amazing opportunities that can be found nowhere else, Herrington added. “I recommend CAP to every teen I know,” she said. “CAP changed my life, and I think that’s something everyone should experience. Aspiring aviators especially should take advantage of the Cadet Wings program, as the opportunity for a full paid ride is once in a lifetime.”

High-Achieving CadetAlthough Herrington joined CAP at 16 rather than the earliest eligible age, 12, she has more than made up the lost time. Honor Cadet of the 2017 Texas Wing summer encampment, Honor Cadet of the 2017 Southwest Region Honor Academy, Air Force Association Cadet of the Year for her squadron and a distinguished graduate of the 2018 powered flight academy, she is also her squadron's cadet commander.

“All of my greatest achievements have been through Civil Air Patrol — but the most rewarding is getting my private pilot’s license,” Herrington said. “I’ve been fortunate to achieve much in the short time I’ve been involved, something others can do, too.

“I like the fact CAP is what you make it,” she added. “The organization is overflowing with opportunities for all interests, all the while teaching important life lessons. The cadet program is geared toward the benefit of cadets and helping them find success whenever you join. CAP is a robust organization full of opportunities. It offers leadership positions no other organization does.”

Herrington enjoys watching cadets grow as individuals and as a team. “My favorite activities include aviation NCSAs (National Cadet Special Activities), staffing encampments and working one-on-one with cadets in my squadron,” she said.

Herrington has applied to the U.S. Air Force Academy; and if that doesn’t pan out, she will attend flight school at LeTourneau University in Longview, Texas.

“I want to be a pilot, either military or civilian,” she said. “Flying is my passion!”

Airman is the official magazine of the U.S. Air Force. It’s published bimonthly online by the Defense Media Activity group and is considered a major publication of the U.S. Air Force.

Entitled “Serving, Saving, Shaping,” the Airman post includes a 4½-minute video of Smith’s interview, which was conducted in December in Washington, D.C. He was interviewed by Joseph Eddins, and a transcript of a portion of the question-and-answer session is also posted on the website.

On Wednesday, Smith responded to the post, saying he was grateful for the experience.

“I’m thankful for this opportunity to tell Airmen across the world about Civil Air Patrol,” he said. “It is my hope that it will make them and others more aware of the capabilities of CAP and encourage them to one day join us in our many missions for America.”

In the Airman interview, Smith talked about a life-changing mentor who guided him to the Air Force Academy, which allowed him to fulfill his childhood dream of being a fighter pilot.

Smith told Eddins the experience has greatly affected his current mission to build CAP cadets into leaders of the future. “I love to talk to young people about the power of mentorship because it’s something that made a fundamental difference in my life and being able to achieve my life goal,” he said.

The Airman transcript includes an old photo of Smith and one of his mentor, the late Air Force Reserve Maj. Ray Powell. Another photo from his career in the Air Force shows Smith in the 27th Tactical Fighter Squadron during Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm.

But much of the transcript deals with CAP and Smith’s post as national commander/CEO, which he called “the best job in the world.”

He told Eddins two things attracted him to CAP — the volunteers who make up the Air Force auxiliary and the ability to continuing flying in service to his country.

“These are amazing people who are giving of their time, treasure and talents to serve community, state and nation and doing a wide variety of amazing things,” Smith said. “So what’s not to like about that? Then the stick and rudder flying, of course I love airplanes, love flying, and it’s nice to still do that.”

Other interview topics ranged from CAP’s rich history to its current role as a force-multiplier for the Air Force. Smith talked about the organization’s steadily increasing role in America’s homeland security as the newest member of the Air Force’s Total Force.

“We have 61,500 volunteers who are passionate about being volunteer Airmen and making a difference for community, state and nation,” Smith said. “CAP is unlike any other volunteer organization I’ve ever seen. They’re doing things that are helping on an operational level, whether it’s disaster response or search and rescue or developing young people to be highly successful and ethical leaders for the next generation.”

John Salvador, CAP’s chief operating officer, said Smith’s interview was a first for the organization.

“This is the first time CAP’s national commander/CEO has ever been interviewed by the Air Force for a major story,” he said. “We appreciate Airman Magazine taking the time to do this.”

When Cadet Col. Samuel A. Ward received Civil Air Patrol’s highest cadet honor, the Gen. Carl A. Spaatz Award, he was the seventh member of the Illinois Wing’s Scott Composite Squadron to do so in 50 years – and all six of his predecessors were there for the presentation.

Each received a personal introduction by the event emcee, Lt. Col. Jacob Hiles, commander of the Scott squadron.

After receiving the Spaatz, Lockwood went on to work with NASA as a flight control specialist at Johnson Space Center in Houston and as a satellite engineer at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Upon retirement, he became the director of aviation at Southwestern Illinois College. At 18, he was certified as a cadet flight instructor in CAP.

Abegg is commander of CAP’s New Jersey Wing and has been a member of the organization for 44 years. He has served as national director of emergency services and as the Northeast Region’s deputy chief of staff for operations. A retired Air Force Reserves C-141 pilot, he is a captain with United Airlines.

As a cadet, Byrd trained at Hawk Mountain, visited Sweden as part of the International Air Cadet Exchange and commanded 100 participants at a summer encampment. He retired after 30 years as a Security Forces officer and is a reserve deputy sheriff in Washington state. Byrd traveled the farthest to be part of the Spaatz gathering.

Repp is the specialist section chief for the 932nd Aircraft Maintenance Squadron at Scott AFB. He also serves as the 932nd Maintenance Group’s Wing Inspection Team chief. In the civilian sector, he is the lead information technology systems specialist for the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Technology Center in St. Louis.

Delcour is the deputy director of command and control in the 618th Air Operations Center at Scott, where he assists the director in executing worldwide Mobility Air Forces tanker and airlift missions. He has 4,750 flight hours in the E-11A, C-17A, C-5A/B/C T-1, and T-37, of which 1,600 were combat hours.

Delcour was also instrumental in recruiting the next Spaatz recipient to the unit. White is a Department of Defense civilian contractor working at the Air Force Network Interoperabilty Center at Scott as an airborne network engineer.

Only one-half of 1 percent of CAP cadets achieve the Spaatz award. Doing so requires completing a rigorous four-part exam consisting of a challenging physical fitness test, an essay exam testing moral reasoning and comprehensive written exams on leadership and on aerospace education.

Ward is attending the Marion Military Institute in Alabama and has a provisional appointment to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. He is a distinguished graduate of CAP’s Cadet Officer School at Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama.

“It was pretty incredible to be part of someone else’s celebration of such a noteworthy accomplishment,” Delcour said afterward.

“To have all seven of us present at once could very well be the first of its kind — a rarity so special that may never be seen again—and so phenomenal; I couldn’t be more proud to be part of it and relive some of my own accomplishments with old and new friends in the great Civil Air Patrol!” he said.

One of the old friends he referred to was Chris Jeter, who drove some 800 miles from Abilene, Texas, for the event. As a senior cadet, Jeter was a powerful influence on Repp, Delcour and White during their early years in CAP.

“It was incredible and emotional for us prior Spaatz recipients to all get together and for us to see how getting our Spaatz awards jumpstarted us all to very successful careers,” Abegg said. “The self-discipline, the dedication, the service before self and drive for excellence obviously built a strong foundation in us that propelled us for future success.”

“It was also a great inspiration and booster shot for our current cadets to see the follow-on rewards of hard work now,” he added. “So many of our nation's youth don't seem to get that. The core values that CAP instills in our cadets pays great dividends for their future and the future of America.”

CAP’s command chief, Chief Master Sgt. Robert Dandridge, an avid cadet program supporter and leader, also attended the ceremony. “For me, seeing seven Spaatz award certificates side by side on seven easels was very impressive and motivating for the many cadets looking on,” Dandridge said. “Let us – together – help prepare and mentor the next Spaatz award cadets in their journey.”

Four years ago, Wolff (second from left in the graphic photo below) was selected to receive the Congressional Gold Medal on behalf of CAP members -- like him -- who served on the home front during World War II. In addition to his service during the war, Wolff made many contributions to CAP in his lifetime, including legislation that led to full congressional funding for the organization.

CAP National Headquarters joins with members of the Congressional Squadron (which he co-founded), as well as Wolff’s former constituents in New York, in thanking him for his service and wishing him a happy 100th birthday.

On National Wreaths Across America Day, grateful Americans in every state, at 1,640 participating locations nationwide, placed 1.8 million fresh evergreen remembrance rings on the headstones of the nation’s heroes. At Arlington National Cemetery, nearly 60,000 rain-soaked volunteers placed 253,000 wreaths.

Nearly 600 truckloads of live balsam wreaths were transported across the country through a network of hundreds of volunteer drivers, donated trucking and diesel, and countless hours of dedicated volunteers committed to the mission to Remember, Honor and Teach.

“Wreaths Across America brings diverse people and communities together across the country to celebrate all that is good and just,” said Karen Worcester, executive director of Wreaths Across America. “It is our obligation as Americans to teach our children — and each other — about the value of our freedom and the character of the men and women who serve to protect it.”

Cadets and senior members from about 500 Civil Air Patrol squadrons joined in the tribute to the nation’s fallen, taking part in the national remembrance ceremony at Arlington as well as at other cemeteries and memorials — from upstate New York to northern Utah. Their roles varied, from presenting the colors to delivering orations and placing wreaths on veterans’ graves.

“Today, we show a united front across the United States of America, to honor the fallen,” said Cadet 2nd Lt. Hope McHenry, who spoke at a ceremony at Gerald B.H. Solomon Saratoga National Cemetery in New York.

The ceremony preceded the wreath-laying part of the event, when more than 2,000 volunteers braved the cold to place over 12,000 wreaths in memory of veterans buried there.

At Logan City Cemetery in Utah, CAP Capt. Jody Reese said, “We thank those who gave their lives to keep us free, and we shall not forget you. We shall remember.”

The Cache Valley Composite Squadron of Civil Air Patrol organized the event, garnering sponsorships for each of the wreaths placed in the cemetery. Volunteers placed 95 wreaths on the graves of veterans.

At Tyler Memorial Funeral Home-Cemetery and Mausoleum in Texas, Lt. Col. Charles Williams, commander of CAP’s Tyler Composite Squadron, said it was important for the organization to organize the event and honor veterans.

“Civil Air Patrol on a national level supports Wreaths Across America,” he said. “It’s important to us because a lot of us are former (service members), so we like to come out and pay our respects to people who went before us.”

Members of the Southeast Minnesota Composite Squadron trekked through the snow in Rochester to pay their respects. Terry Trondson, who organized the observance at Oakwood Cemetery, said, “I’m very impressed to see all of the youth here with Civil Air Patrol. They are disciplined. This is volunteer stuff — nobody is getting paid. For them to do this and stand over a grave and salute really touches you.”

Cadet Airman Basic Randi Malson braved the wind, pausing to salute each veteran’s grave, before placing a wreath on headstones at Oregon Trail State Veterans Cemetery in Evansville, Wyoming. She planned to help place wreaths at veterans’ graves in two other local cemeteries as well.

“I have five people who have served in the military with my family,” the 12-year-old said, “so every one of these is personal to me.”

Each live balsam wreath is a gift of respect and appreciation, donated by a private citizen or organization, like CAP, and placed on the graves by volunteers as a small gesture of gratitude for their service and sacrifice.

For centuries, fresh evergreens have been used as a symbol of honor and have served as a living tribute that is renewed annually. Wreaths Across America believes the tradition represents a living memorial that honors veterans, active-duty military and their families.

Volunteers participating in the 1,640 ceremonies across the nation on Saturday were asked to say the name of veterans out loud when they placed their wreaths to ensure their memory lives on.

“The fact that the cadets do so much of this is a huge honor to them, and they really take ownership of it,” said 2nd Lt. Rebecca Walsh, observing the ceremony at snow-covered Northern Wisconsin Veterans Memorial Cemetery. “It’s really an amazing thing that these kids get to place over 1,000 wreaths,a long with volunteers from all around the area.”

National Wreaths Across America Day is a free event and open to all. More information is available at the campaign's website.

Community Media Group, LLC, in Olean, New York; KAAL-TV in Rochester, Minnesota; the Herald Journal in Logan, Utah; the Tyler Morning Telegraph in Texas; WDIO-TV in Duluth, Minnestoa.; and the Casper Star-Tribune in Wyoming all contributed to this report.

The selections were made at the BoG’s December meeting in Washington, D.C. Lynn, a former Alabama Wing commander, will serve in place of retired U.S. Air Force Lt. Gen. Judy Fedder, whose term on the 11-member governing body ends soon. Corsi will succeed Lynn, who has been the vice chair.

“It is an honor and a privilege to serve on the Board of Governors,” Lynn said. “I look forward to this new position of leadership. My fellow board members and I will continue the great work that has been done to lead the organization into the future.”

The BoG consists of four Air Force appointees, three members appointed jointly by the secretary of the Air Force and CAP’s national commander, and four members-at-large selected by the CAP Senior Advisory Group. The BoG generates strategic policies, plans and programs designed to guide and support the volunteer service of the organization’s 52 wings and 61,000 members nationwide. CAP’s national commander and CEO, the organization’s chief operating officer and the CAP-USAF commander serve as advisers to the BoG.

Lynn served as CAP’s Southeast Region vice commander before he joined the BoG as an at-large member on May 5, 2017. Before that, he commanded the Alabama Wing and served at the national level as commandant of cadets for Cadet Officer School, escort officer for the International Air Cadet Exchange and instructor and seminar leader for National Staff College.

Lynn brings a unique perspective to CAP’s Cadet Programs mission, having been a Gen. Carl A. Spaatz Award recipient, National Cadet of the Year in 1973 and a member of the National Cadet Advisory Council in the mid-'70s.

His extensive background in aviation also includes a 30-year career in the U.S. Air Force. While in the Air Force, he flew KC-135 and C-130 aircraft and served in numerous staff positions and as vice wing commander of the 908th Airlift Wing. He also completed an Air Staff Training Assignment at the Pentagon and a tour of duty in Afghanistan.

Lynn’s military decorations include the Legion of Merit with Oak Leaf Cluster, Bronze Star, Meritorious Service Medal with two Oak Leaf Clusters, Air Medal, Air Force Commendation Medal and Outstanding Unit Award with Valor.

His background also includes positions on the Air Force Association National Advisory Board representing the Air Force Reserve Command and membership on the Reserve Corporate Board for Air Force Materiel Command.

Lynn is a captain with United Airlines, flying primarily international routes.

Corsi joined the BoG on Nov. 1, 2016, upon his retirement from federal service. His professional career spanned 46 years of service with the Air Force — 28 years on active duty and 18 years as a civilian in the Senior Executive Service.

When he retired from federal service, he was the assistant deputy chief of staff for Manpower, Personnel and Services, Headquarters U.S. Air Force, Washington, D.C., responsible for comprehensive plans and policies covering all life cycles of military and civilian personnel management. This included military and civilian end strength management, education and training, compensation and resource allocation as well as the delivery of fully qualified, ready airmen for the Joint Warfighter while meeting all the needs of U.S. airmen and their families.

He oversaw the execution and programming of the Manpower, Personnel and Services portfolio with an annual $40.9 billion personnel budget for 660,000 military and civilian Total Force airmen.

Upon his retirement, Corsi established RoCor Consulting, LLC, to provide the full range of human capital advice to the public sector. He is a registered professional engineer and is a member of the National Society of Professional Engineers. He is also a senior member of both the Institute of Industrial Engineers and the American Society of Mechanical Engineers.

Corsi has been a member of the Visiting Committee of Industrial & Systems Management at West Virginia University since 2014. He was inducted in the Academy of Industrial Engineers in 2015 for his contributions to the profession. He was inducted into the Academy of Distinguished Alumni at West Virginia University in 2016 for his contributions to the university, his profession, and his leadership in assisting the poor in Appalachia.

]]>featureWed, 19 Dec 2018 15:38:36 -0600https://content.presspage.com/uploads/1913/500_lynnncorsi-305622.png?10000CAP Helps Honor Nation's Fallen Through Wreaths Across Americahttps://www.cap.news/cap-helps-honor-nations-fallen-through-wreaths-across-america/
https://www.cap.news/cap-helps-honor-nations-fallen-through-wreaths-across-america/Every December, Civil Air Patrol takes part in a holiday tradition observed by all 52 CAP wings and even abroad. From Hawaii's Punchbowl to snow-covered sites in the upper Midwest to a Civil War battlefield in Georgia to the poppy fields of Normandy, France, thousands of CAP senior members and cadets participate in Wreaths Across America observances to honor the nation’s fallen.

They present the colors, deliver orations and place veterans’ wreaths on headstones at national cemeteries and war memorials.

Senior members and cadets will join an estimated 90,000+ volunteers at Arlington National Cemetery on Saturday for National Wreaths Across America Day. At Arlington and at 1,600 U.S. cemeteries and memorial sites around the world, other volunteers — many of them CAP members — will also participate in the venture, placing more than a million and a half fresh balsam evergreens from Maine on the graves of military veterans as a tribute to their service and sacrifice.

“Civil Air Patrol has been a proud partner in Wreaths Across America since the nonprofit was founded in 2007,” said Maj. Gen. Mark Smith, CAP national commander. “Thousands of service-minded CAP members across America tap into the initiative each year — selling wreath sponsorships to the public, laying wreaths and conducting ceremonies to mark the day with pomp, circumstance and patriotism.”

“Each and every wreath is a gift from an appreciative person or family who knows what it means to serve and sacrifice for the freedoms we all enjoy, fulfilling our mission to 'Remember, Honor and Teach,'” said Karen Worcester, executive director of Wreaths Across America. Besides CAP, numerous other civic and charitable organizations, as well as corporate donors, are also involved in the effort, which receives notable support from Gold Star Mothers in the U.S., the Silver Star Mothers in Canada and the Patriot Guard Riders motorcycle club.

The most visible Wreaths Across America event is a weeklong convoy that began with a wreath exchange at the Canadian border with Maine and proceeded down the Northeast Corridor, stopping for numerous ceremonies along the way. This year, over 65 trucks were part of the convoy.

On Saturday, volunteers will help unload the trucks’ cargo of wreaths at Arlington, where the remainder of the day is devoted to special wreath placements at cemetery sites such as the Tomb of the Unknowns and the USS Maine Mast Memorial.

Meanwhile, other Wreaths Across America ceremonies are also conducted at national cemeteries and war memorials around the world. The initiative is a heartfelt way to remember, honor and teach — goals that mirror CAP’s devotion to the military.

]]>featureFri, 14 Dec 2018 13:09:27 -0600https://content.presspage.com/uploads/1913/500_wreaths-3-670296.jpg?10000Secretary of the Air Force Accepts CAP Congressional Gold Medal Honoring Grandfatherhttps://www.cap.news/secretary-of-the-air-force-accepts-cap-congressional-gold-medal-honoring-grandfather/
https://www.cap.news/secretary-of-the-air-force-accepts-cap-congressional-gold-medal-honoring-grandfather/Secretary of the Air Force Heather Wilson and her brothers, Scott and Ian Wilson, accepted a replica of Civil Air Patrol’s Congressional Gold Medal on Monday in honor of their late grandfather, George G. “Scotty” Wilson, a CAP pilot during World War II.

“I’d like to thank Civil Air Patrol for honoring its founding members,” Wilson said during the 20-minute presentation ceremony at the Pentagon, where she serves as the U.S. Air Force’s highest-ranked civilian.

The presentation to the Wilson family came four years to the day that Congress awarded its highest civilian honor, the Congressional Gold Medal, to CAP and its World War II members for their unusual service – as civilian volunteer airmen flying their own aircraft on important and sometimes dangerous wartime missions.

“It was my pleasure to present the Congressional Gold Medal to Secretary Wilson and her brothers in honor of their grandfather’s World War II service,” said Maj. Gen. Mark Smith, CAP national commander. “George Wilson played a critical and extremely dangerous role as a mission pilot.”

Since the Congressional Gold Medal was bestowed to CAP in 2014, the organization has honored dozens of World War II-era members and their families with replica medals in ceremonies like the one at the Pentagon.

“The real value was that civilian aviators serving alongside members of the Army, Navy and Coast Guard helped force the submarine threat well away from the American coastlines — they were there when the nation needed them,” said Col. Frank Blazich, CAP’s national historian emeritus, who emceed the ceremony. “It was truly an inspiring time.”

Civil Air Patrol was founded Dec. 1, 1941, predating creation of the Air Force some six years later, when CAP became the military service’s official auxiliary.

Scotty Wilson, a member of the Keene Squadron in New Hampshire, flew for CAP’s courier service out of Grenier Army Airfield and as a member of Tow Target Unit No. 5 based at Otis Field in Falmouth, Massachusetts, in addition to duties as a member of the New Hampshire Wing staff. He logged more than 1,000 wartime flying hours with CAP from November 1942 to January 1945,

“The courier service flew critical personnel and cargo between military base and factories supporting three major Army Air Forces commands by flying 20,000 miles daily and carrying over 3.5 million pounds of cargo, including Army mail, aircraft parts, war materiels, supplies and personnel,” said Blazich, adding that CAP’s World War II-era members also flew 20,500 missions involving towing aerial gunnery targets for live-fire antiaircraft gunnery training and nighttime tracking missions for searchlights.

“This was a particularly dangerous mission, and several CAP members lost their lives to friendly fire,” he said. “Even for those who survived, their aircraft often returned with holes and other damage from less than accurate gunnery.”

After World War II, Scotty Wilson took the helm as commander of CAP’s New Hampshire Wing. He served in that role from 1948-1954.

U.S. Air Force Photos by Adrian Cadiz

]]>featureWed, 12 Dec 2018 15:36:42 -0600https://content.presspage.com/uploads/1913/500_181210-f-dt527-053-913786.jpg?62330Allies Gather for Border Ceremonies to Honor Veteranshttps://www.cap.news/allies-gather-for-border-ceremonies-to-honor-veterans/
https://www.cap.news/allies-gather-for-border-ceremonies-to-honor-veterans/Wreaths Across America will honor the service and sacrifice of military veterans from the United States and Canada with a wreath exchange Saturday on Ferry Point Bridge, which spans the St. Croix River and connects Calais, Maine, and St. Stephen, New Brunswick.

“Our mission is to Remember, Honor and Teach about the service and sacrifices of veterans,” said Karen Worcester, executive director of Wreaths Across America. Worcester and her husband, Morrill, started the nonprofit organization 11 years ago.

The HART (Honoring Allies and Remembering Together) Ceremony on the Ferry Point Bridge in Maine, which begins at 10 a.m. EST, was organized to recognize veterans on both sides of the border as represented by American Gold Star Mothers and Canadian Silver Cross families and including young men and women from Canada who are serving or served in the U.S. military.

Cadets from Civil Air Patrol (the official auxiliary of the U.S. Air Force) will escort Gold Star Mothers and Royal Canadian Air Cadets will escort Silver Cross families to the center of the bridge, where the Gold Star Mothers will present a remembrance wreath to the Silver Cross families for placement nearby at the Cenotaph Memorial Monument in St. Stephen.

The bridge wreath exchange ceremony in Maine is one of the oldest of the events held across America this month. Similar ceremonies are planned on the Ambassador Bridge between Detroit, Michigan, and Windsor, Ontario; in Sweetgrass, Montana, where the U.S. Interstate 15 bridge acts as a Canadian gateway to Coutts, Alberta; and on the Dalton Cache Border Crossing on Haines Highway, where the state of Alaska connects with the Yukon Territory of Canada.

The Maine bridge event kicks off a full week of activity for Wreaths Across America, which is providing nearly 2 million remembrance wreaths for wreath-laying ceremonies at 1,600 veterans cemeteries and memorials nationwide and abroad.

CAP and its members will lead or participate, often with color or honor guards, in many of the observances scheduled at cemeteries and war memorials. The largest event is Dec. 15 at Arlington National Cemetery outside of Washington, D.C., where over 250,000 wreaths will be decorated.

“This opportunity provided by Wreaths Across America, to sponsor wreaths and to ceremoniously place them on veterans’ graves, is a holiday tradition for Civil Air Patrol,” said CAP National Commander Maj. Gen. Mark Smith. “We see it as an excellent way to honor our veterans and serve our communities.”

Wreaths bound for Arlington are being transported next week on a 750-mile journey from Columbia Falls, Maine, after a sendoff ceremony at sunrise on Saturday. The route is one of this country’s longest annual veterans’ celebrations, as patriotic Americans, veterans’ groups and other volunteer organizations like CAP show their support for the project with parades and ceremonies at schools, monuments, veterans’ homes and communities along the way to remind people how important it is to Remember, Honor and Teach.

Wreaths Across America began in 2007 as an offshoot of the Arlington National Cemetery wreath project, which was started in 1992 with the annual placement of wreaths donated by Worcester Wreath Co. Today, it is a monumental initiative, with partners like Civil Air Patrol, the Maine State Society of Washington, D.C., and other veterans’ groups participating, not to mention the many members of the nation’s trucking industry and tens of thousands of private citizens who purchase wreaths through sponsorships sold by CAP and the many other veterans’ groups and other organizations involved.

CAP Maryland Wing 2nd Lt. Peter Wilson recently made history as the first pilot to make a shipborne rolling vertical landing, known as a SRVL in naval aviation circles.

Wilson’s aircraft for the SRVL was a Lockheed Martin F-35B Joint Strike Fighter, a stealth multirole jet that he vertically landed on the deck of the new British aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth. His feat takes vertical landings to a new level and allows the F-35 to land with 2,000 more pounds of weapons and fuel than is possible in a typical vertical landing. That means less waste and, therefore, money saved on the expensive ordnance.

In the late 1990s, the United Kingdom Ministry of Defence was looking for a plane that would do more and wanted to figure out a way to bring expensive heavy weapons back to the ship.

“The idea for this type of landing came about, and we wanted to give it a go,” said Wilson, a second lieutenant in CAP’s St. Mary’s Composite Squadron. “That actual landing was a culmination of almost two decades of work.”

Wilson works for BAE Systems, a British company focused on international technology defense, aerospace and security.

During a vertical landing, an aircraft hovers next to a ship, moves sideways and gently lowers down. During an SRVL, an aircraft approaches a carrier ship from behind at low speed, lands and slows quickly using its own brakes. Because the aircraft keeps moving through the air, lift from the wings allows it to carry more weight.

“Around a decade ago, some doubted it could happen,” Wilson said of the SRVL. “Even today there are skeptics.”

Some wonder how this will become routine for pilots, he said, but he gives an example.

The Harrier aircraft was the first to land vertically in the 1960s. “It was very much a showpiece at the time, and there was nothing common about a vertical landing, but it became the normal thing,” said Wilson, who has been flying since he was 16. Since then, the vertical landing has become common and the Harrier’s uses have evolved. “Even today, it’s an incredible, phenomenal airplane.”

And now, the F-35, which has only been around for a decade, has become the showpiece to test the SRVL. Wilson expects great things of this technology and aircraft.

“People will find new things this aircraft can do that we haven’t imagined yet,” he said.

Problem solvers

For 20 years, his day job, as an experimental test pilot with BAE Systems, has focused on this feat, which came to fruition on Oct. 14 when he made the landing on the HMS Queen Elizabeth. Throughout those years, which included a move in 2006 to the United States with his wife and two boys, Wilson has worked on solving the technical, how-to questions with like-minded pilots and engineers.

He and the team asked question after question. How do we do a running landing without a hook to catch a cable and stop the aircraft? We’ll have to use our own brakes, so how much speed can we get rid of and how can we do that safely? The ship is moving and the plane is moving, so how do we make this work repeatedly?

And while it’s very common to use lights to guide in an aircraft, the team developed a software and sensor-controlled SRVL array that uses 21 pairs of lights embedded in the ship’s runway centerline for this landing. A pilot sees red lights marking the beginning and end of the touchdown zone and only one pair of white “aim lights” that show the pilot where to land. As a ship heaves and pitches, different aim lights are illuminated by the software.

In the early 2000s, the team figured the lights out using a simulator. In 2007-08, they took it to sea. “We had to look at it in the real world so we took a mock-up of 21 pairs of lights and drove them with software,” he said.

The team planned for any number of failures that can happen, such as a burst tire that makes the landing really hard to control, brake failure, hydraulic failure, engine issues and hundreds of other things.

In 2006, Wilson and his family moved from Britain to Texas near Lockheed Martin. Later, they moved to Maryland near the Naval Air Station known as Pax River. BAE Systems chose to do the simulator work in the United Kingdom, so Wilson traveled quite a bit.

“In 2012 alone I went back to the U.K. 12 times,” he said.

He and his teenage sons joined the St. Mary’s Composite Squadron in 2017. He hopes to get more involved with CAP in the future when his work schedule allows. “It’s a great way to give back to society,” he said.

Next steps

Four test pilots included Wilson and a Marine Corps pilot. After Wilson’s successful landing, another test pilot also completed the landing.

The carrier will set sail again soon for three weeks at sea, during which time all four pilots will do a total of 15 to 20 SRVLs and compare notes.

Then, in about a year, as more pilots train on the SRVL technique, there will be another trial period and the British government may start using the landing within 18 months or so.

At this point, the U.K. is the only customer. One of the test pilots is a Marine, leading the way for this technology to be considered in the U.S.

Three Alaska Wing aircrews launched Friday after the 7.2 magnitude earthquake near Anchorage surveyed about 200 miles of highway and 150 miles of railway and gas lines, producing about 700 photos for emergency officials to use in evaluating possible damage and how best to respond.

The three planes were flying after the Alaska Joint Rescue Coordination Center activated the wing to provide search and rescue support for stranded motorists along stretches of wilderness highways without alternate means of egress.

The aircrews generated photos of critical infrastructure such as bridges and overpasses along three routes. They subsequently downloaded the images to the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s website. They also surveyed two ports to verify ocean vessels and the environment weren’t immediately threatened.

Aircrews also tracked two activated emergency locator transmitters in the quake-affected area and coordinated with Alaska Wing ground teams, ensuring prompt response in checking and silencing the beacons.

Alaska Wing members are working in the state’s emergency operation center and the Joint Rescue Coordination Center. The wing will continue to accept assignments for search and rescue and disaster relief and assessment as needed.

Immediately following the initial quake, wing leaders contacted all 19 squadrons within a 275-mile radius of the epicenter. Squadrons as far east as Tok and as far west as King Salmon were unscathed, with aircrews available for tasking.

The Alaska Wing has more than 730 members and operates 18 specially equipped CAP Cessnas for search and rescue throughout the state and regularly leads the nation in number of lives saved.

]]>featureSat, 01 Dec 2018 12:12:24 -0600https://content.presspage.com/uploads/1913/500_akhiway-686986.jpg?10000CAP Observes 77 Years of Volunteer Servicehttps://www.cap.news/cap-observes-77-years-of-volunteer-service/
https://www.cap.news/cap-observes-77-years-of-volunteer-service/Civil Air Patrol’s rich heritage of volunteer service will be celebrated this coming weekend, as the longtime U.S. Air Force Auxiliary observes its 77th anniversary.

“Our legacy is well worth celebrating,” said Maj. Gen. Mark Smith, CAP’s national commander and chief executive officer. “Each year, on the first day of December, we are reminded of the sacrifices of CAP’s earliest members, whose extraordinary contributions to America continue today in our citizen volunteers’ vigilant service to country and community.”

CAP was founded on Dec. 1, 1941, less than a week before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor led to America’s involvement in World War II. Its members quickly proved their worth by conducting aerial patrols on their own, heroism that discouraged and eventually helped stop deadly German U-boat attacks along U.S. coastlines and waterways.

The wartime service of CAP’s “subchasers” helped stop the loss of American and Allied merchant vessels, saving the lives of untold thousands of sailors and countless millions of dollars of war materiel destined for the battlefields in Europe and the Pacific.

In addition to coastal patrols, CAP aircrews assisted with other essential wartime missions on the home front, such as search and rescue, disaster relief, border patrol, forest fire patrol, target towing for military practice and transporting critical supplies. Members also managed hundreds of airports and trained aviators – many of them teenage cadets – for future service in CAP and the military.

Those services provided by Civil Air Patrol’s World War II-era veterans earned CAP a Congressional Gold Medal on Dec. 10, 2014. The medal — the highest civilian honor bestowed by Congress — was presented to CAP on behalf of those founding members.

That legacy lives on in today’s all-volunteer force, which still contributes greatly to America’s defense by providing aerial reconnaissance for homeland security, giving Air Force fighter pilots practice in protecting America’s airspace and helping train U.S. military troops for service overseas.

CAP members also make a profound difference in more than 1,500 communities across the nation, saving lives through search and rescue and other emergency services and conducting aerospace education and youth programs that help develop the nation’s next generation of leaders.

“Every day, our more than 61,000 members continue to build on the terrific foundation forged by their forefathers,” Smith said. “Their contributions have helped Civil Air Patrol evolve into the premier public service organization that it is today.”

CAP, which celebrated 70 years as the official Air Force Auxiliary in 2018, truly makes its mark as a force-multiplier, providing vital services for both country and community. This coming year, CAP and its cadet program have been tasked by the Air Force to help identify and train young pilots for future military services as well as commercial airlines and general aviation.

In observance of CAP’s 77th anniversary, Smith has asked CAP cadets and senior members to join him in an annual tradition this weekend — representing CAP by wearing their Air Force-style blue uniforms to their place of worship.

Members of all faiths, particularly CAP’s chaplains and character development officers, are encouraged to participate.

]]>featureFri, 30 Nov 2018 14:42:00 -0600https://content.presspage.com/uploads/1913/500_thenampnow-610990.png?10000Board of Governors' King Honored by National Aeronautic Associationhttps://www.cap.news/board-of-governors-king-honored-by-national-aeronautic-association/
https://www.cap.news/board-of-governors-king-honored-by-national-aeronautic-association/The Civil Air Patrol Board of Governors’ newest member, Martha King, and her husband, John King, have been inducted into the National Aeronautic Association's National Aviation Hall of Fame Class of 2019.

The honor recognizes the couple's San Diego-based King Schools Inc., which develops and provides multimedia training programs for people interested in pilot certification. The Kings also received the NAA's Wesley L. McDonald Distinguished Statesman of Aviation award.

The awards were presented at the NAA’s Fall Dinner on Wednesday at the Crystal Gateway Marriott in Arlington, Virginia.

Martha King joined the Board of Governors, CAP’s chief governing body, last month.

The NAA previously presented her with the Cliff Henderson Award for Achievement, annually presented to "a living individual or group whose vision, leadership or skill has made a significant and lasting contribution to the promotion and advancement of aviation or space activity," in 2008. The group jointly awarded the Kings the Frank G. Brewer Trophy for Aviation Education in 2012,

In 2003, Martha King was also honored by the First Flight Centennial Commission as one of the “100 Distinguished Aviation Heroes” in the first century of flight and was also named as one of the “100 Most Influential Women in Aviation” by Women in Aviation International.

The Kings were jointly inducted into the International Air & Space Hall of Fame at the San Diego Air & Space Museum in 2006. That same year, they were named “Aviation Educators of the Year" by Professional Pilot Magazine. They were honored with the Vision Award from Business & Commercial Aviation and inducted into the International Aerospace Hall of Fame in 2008, recognized with the American Spirit Award by the National Business Aviation Association in 2009, and presented the Pinnacle Award by the Flight School Association of North America in 2015.

]]>featureThu, 29 Nov 2018 15:56:20 -0600https://content.presspage.com/uploads/1913/500_kingsjpic1-850425.jpg?10000CAP National Commander Invites Members to Wear Their Uniform to Religious Serviceshttps://www.cap.news/cap-national-commander-invites-members-to-wear-their-uniform-to-religious-services/
https://www.cap.news/cap-national-commander-invites-members-to-wear-their-uniform-to-religious-services/As Civil Air Patrol’s 77th anniversary on Dec. 1 nears, the organization’s national commander, Maj. Gen. Mark Smith, invites all members to join him in an annual tradition – representing CAP by attending worship services in uniform the weekend of Nov. 30-Dec. 2.

“We in CAP take pride in our uniforms and on occasion look for opportunities to wear them publicly to demonstrate this pride,” Smith said. “Traditionally, one of these opportunities has been on the first weekend of December, when CAP members are encouraged to wear their uniform to their religious service of choice.”

In 1972, the CAP National Board designated the first Sunday in December as “CAP Sunday.” Soon after that, Saturday was added for those whose day of religious observance is Saturday.

Now, all faiths are encouraged to participate during the weekend.

“This special tradition gives CAP chaplains an opportunity to acquaint their congregations with their ministry as CAP chaplains, and for CAP members to raise awareness about Civil Air Patrol,” said Chaplain (Col.) Charlie Sattgast, chief of CAP’s Chaplain Corps.

“Attending one's church, synagogue or mosque in uniform is an excellent opportunity to take the message of aerospace to non-CAP members, especially to the community’s youth,” Sattgast added. “For chaplains, it is also an excellent opening for telling their religious bodies about the importance of character development and emergency services in CAP.”

CAP proclamations allow all cadets and senior members to wear their U.S. Air Force-style blue uniforms or the CAP equivalent to their worship services anytime during the weekend closest to the organization’s Dec. 1 anniversary.

Cadets from the Puerto Rico Wing’s Muñiz ANG Base Cadet Squadron were enjoying a unit meeting – including uniform inspection, a safety briefing, character development class, testing and promotions – on Nov. 17 when the session suddenly turned very special.

The chief of staff of the Air Force, Gen. David Goldfein, and the Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Kaleth O. Wright, were visiting the base during the squadron’s meeting, and they dropped by to speak with the cadets.

The two men spent time with the cadets and talked to them about Civil Air Patrol’s importance to the Air Force.

In addition, Goldfein took the opportunity to present Cadet Lt. Col. Angelymar Sanchez with her CAP solo wings. Sanchez was introduced to Goldfein as the first CAP cadet to receive the Continental Motors Group Scholarship, which provided her with $12,000 to pursue her private pilot certificate. She recently completed her first solo flight after 21 hours of flight lessons.

Because of a generous donor to Civil Air Patrol, the first $10,000 donated will be matched dollar-for-dollar, according to CAP’s chief of philanthropy, Kristina Jones.

“Our goal is to Create America’s Future…Today! by providing scholarships for cadets, character and leadership development for youth, and providing access for teachers’ to AE curriculum and STEM kits,” Jones said.

Civil Air Patrol is also positioned to receive gifts from two other donation platforms. Donations on Facebook and PayPal will be matched beginning begin at 8 a.m. Eastern time (5 a.m. Pacific time) Nov. 27 until $7 million in donations is reached for all nonprofit campaigns. Donations to the Crowdrise platform will allow Civil Air Patrol to compete with other nonprofits for up to $300,000 in prizes.

#GivingTuesday is a global day of giving that harnesses the collective power of individuals, communities and organizations to encourage philanthropy and to celebrate generosity worldwide. Following Thanksgiving and the widely recognized shopping events Black Friday and Cyber Monday, this year’s #GivingTuesday will kick off the giving season by inspiring people to collaborate and give back.

CAP supports America's communities with emergency response, diverse aviation and ground services, youth development and promotion of air, space and cyber power. Formed six days before Pearl Harbor to mobilize the nation's civilian aviation resources for national defense service, CAP has evolved into a premier public service organization that still carries out emergency service missions when needed — in the air and on the ground.

As a Total Force partner and the U.S. Air Force auxiliary, CAP is there to search for and find the lost, provide comfort in times of disaster and work to keep the homeland safe. Its 61,000 members devote their time, energy and expertise toward the well-being of their communities while also promoting aviation and related fields through aerospace/STEM education and helping shape future leaders through CAP’s cadet program.

#GivingTuesday was founded in 2012 by the 92nd Street Y – a community and cultural center in New York City.

Remembering and honoring the nation’s veterans with evergreen wreaths adorned with a bright red bow started a national conversation in 2006 about the service and sacrifice of America’s patriots laid to rest in military cemeteries across the nation and overseas. Now, the conversation initiated by Wreaths Across America has moved inward, with a word-of-mouth remembrance program for veterans’ families. It’s called the Remembrance Tree Program -- tagging trees on Worcester Wreath Co.’s 17,000-acre all-natural balsam tree forest. The year-round comfort and healing it brings to the 10,000 families currently participating are undeniable.

Civil Air Patrol cadets saluted Richard Gammon’s CAP tree as his daughter, Brenda, soaked in the moment. She and her mother Marcia picked out a tree for his dog tags near the chapel -- one for his time in the Air Force and one for CAP.

The replica dog tags, provided free of charge by Wreaths Across America, note the veteran’s rank, branch of service, name and dates of birth and death. They are placed 4 feet off the ground close to the trunk of the tree.

“'A person dies twice, once when he takes his last breath and once when his name is spoken the last time. So, for that not to happen, you must speak their name,"” Brenda recalled being told by Julie Hinkle of Wreaths Across America. So, she said her father's name as she placed the pair of dog tags on the tree.

Having the cadets there, saying the name and permanently tagging the trees were “a very beautiful thing and very healing for my mom and me,” she said. “It was the perfect tribute.”

Maj. Richard Gammon, who served as commander of the 35th Composite Squadron in Maine for 10 years, once took a vanload of cadets on the Wreaths Across America convoy to Arlington, Virginia, and he participated in five wreath-laying events there. The convoy begins in Columbia Falls, Maine, where the wreaths are handcrafted, and ends at Arlington National Cemetery.

Last year Wreaths Across America, with the help of CAP and numerous other volunteers, placed a wreath on each of Arlington’s 245,000 graves.

Gammon’s background also includes two decades of service in the Air Force. He retired as a tech sergeant.

“The military was extremely important to my dad,” Brenda said.

“After he retired he found CAP. He loved those cadets,” she said, noting that his nurturing demeanor once led a cadet to abandon thoughts of suicide.

Bob and Cindy Roberts travel from Queensbury, New York, to Worcester Wreath’s tip fields every year to visit their daughter, Kristie’s, tree. Kristie Roberts’ combined service as a medic in the Air National Guard and Army National Guard, where she served as a sergeant, spanned seven years. The Roberts’ loss was especially tragic. Kristie, their only daughter, took her life in 2012. She was only 27.

Kristie’s tree is in the Gold Star Mother’s section.

Every October Bob and Cindy visit Kristie’s tree, taking delight and comfort in watching it grow, and knowing that her tree as well as those in the tip fields are also used to honor other veterans.

Going there is “like a big hug,” Cindy said. “We say her name and say what we want to say, and it echoes throughout the valley.”

“The tree is a growing, living remembrance of Kristie,” she added.

Tagging these trees started as personal gifts for dear friends, all Gold Star Mothers, said Karen Worcester, executive director of Wreaths Across America.

“They went to a convention and told everyone,” she laughed, and it grew from there.

There have been quite a few emotional moments on the tip land.

“One veteran who had lost a leg and sight in one eye came and tagged a tree for herself,” Worcester said. “The tree will lose its limbs and continue to give and grow, so it felt right, that it related to her.

“The trees serve as a living memorial for the lifetime of the tree for the families,” she said.

The Tip Land“It’s a wonderful place to be,” Worcester said of the tip land. “You drive through and see the sun shining through the trees and the dog tags glistening. It’s very special.”

The tip land is located in Columbia Falls, Maine. In addition to featuring dog tags, the trees’ branches are harvested or “tipped” – about 1 foot from each branch -- once every three years. The evergreen extractions are used to make holiday wreaths.

“It takes about 3 pounds of balsam brush to make one wreath,” Worcester said.

To meet the demand for 1.8 million veterans’ wreaths this year, 140 workers began tipping trees in early October. The crew of 700 wreath makers will generate 60,000 wreaths a day until early December. The whole process is “in full swing,” Worcester said

CAP has a special relationship with Worchester Wreath and Wreaths Across America. When there was a surplus of wreaths in 2002, CAP’s Maine Wing helped make good use of them at Arlington. “It was just family and a few CAP volunteers,” Worchester.said

Then in 2005 the project was discovered, and it went viral. “We received thousands of calls and emails,” Worcester said. “It helped us develop the mission of remember, honor, teach.”

“In 2006, Civil Air Patrol stepped up to become our first partner,” added Worcester, whose two children were CAP cadets. When the decision was made to honor all requests for wreaths for veterans, CAP jumped in and helped. “Within two days we built 100 wreaths,” she said.

Over the years, CAP’s participation in the program has grown. Currently one-third of all approximately 1,500 squadrons across the nation sell wreath sponsorships and participate in local wreath-laying ceremonies. Over the past 11 years, sponsorship of wreaths has raised $1.1 million for participating CAP units.

CAP also has its own wreath laying observation – the HART (Honoring Allies and Remembering Together) Ceremony on the Ferry Point Bridge in Maine. The annual event recognizes all veterans, including men and women from Canada, who are serving or have served in the U.S. military. Participants include the American Gold Star Mothers, the Canadian Mothers of the Silver Cross families, CAP, Cadets Canada and dignitaries representing both nations.

Members of the California Wing are suffering from the impact of their state’s raging dual wildfires, with three losing their homes and several others evacuated.

Lt. Col. Tammy A. Sturgill, the wing’s chief of staff, sent out a report late Tuesday listing:

Two members who have lost their homes,

One who has lost her home and vehicle, and

One who has lost her job after being evacuated.

Thirteen members, including seven cadets, have been evacuated from their homes. Seven are listed as known to be safe and three as relocated and known safe. One member lost electricity for three days, and another remained in the fire area and didn’t evacuate.

Three cadets are listed as having returned to their homes after being evacuated.

“As part of the Total Force, we look after our airmen in the same fashion as the Air Force,” said Col. Alan Ferguson, California Wing commander. He urged donations be made to National Headquarters’ CAP Response Fund, used to assist members affected by disaster.

The emergency began Thursday, when Santa Ana winds blew in unprecedented firestorms. The National Weather Service reported winds blowing over 75 mph and humidity below 10 percent -- conditions that caused the flames to move 30 miles in less than two hours, with embers blowing miles ahead of the fire line and making fighting the fire a near-impossibility, a Ventura County Fire Department spokesperson said.

The worst of the two fires is the Camp Fire in Northern California, which the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection's CAL FIRE website reports has so far consumed 125,000 acres of land, threatened 15,500 structures and destroyed 6,522 residences and 260 commercial structures. Those numbers are expected to rise.

The California Wing’s Northern California Group 5 is commanded by Lt. Col. Bill Wetzel, who said, “85 percent of the town of Paradise has been destroyed. One hundred percent of their Police Department has lost their homes. At least five California Highway Patrol officers have lost their homes as well.

“At least three members of Group 5 have lost their homes, and two lost places of employment. We don’t know how many have been evacuated,” Wetzel said.

In Southern California, the Woolsey Fire has burned 96,314 acres, threatened 57,000 structures and destroyed an estimated 435 structures. Blown by the Santa Ana winds, the fire swept down the coastal hillsides through canyons, pushing flames to the Pacific Ocean near Malibu at the speed of a hurricane and consuming everything in its path.

Maj. Jon Wordsworth, Central Coast Group 4 commander, said an unknown number of members had been evacuated from their homes. Camarillo Airport was threatened by the fire early on, Wordsworth said, adding that “with the winds as high as they were” the CAP Cessna 182 located there couldn’t be removed.

]]>featureWed, 14 Nov 2018 12:54:57 -0600https://content.presspage.com/uploads/1913/500_cafire-737724.jpg?10000CAP Reconnaissance Flights Providing 3-D Views of Michael's Damagehttps://www.cap.news/cap-reconnaissance-flights-providing-3-d-views-of-michaels-damage/
https://www.cap.news/cap-reconnaissance-flights-providing-3-d-views-of-michaels-damage/Over the past three weeks, Civil Air Patrol aircrews working in the Florida Panhandle in the aftermath of Hurricane Michael have conducted imagery flights with specially equipped aircraft in support of the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

CAP, acting as the Air Force Auxiliary, is supporting Air Forces Northern (AFNORTH) during Defense Support of Civil Authorities operations following the hurricane’s landfall on the Gulf Coast. AFNORTH's primary role is to support U.S. Northern Command's efforts in assisting FEMA in its response to the Category 4 storm, which slammed into Mexico Beach, Florida, and surrounding coastal communities on Oct. 10.

CAP Director of Operations John Desmarais said two CAP Cessnas were outfitted with XCAM Ultra50 camera pods developed by WaldoAir Corp., a Franklin, Tennessee-based company. The camera pods were previously tested on two CAP planes during the Hurricane Florence response in the Carolinas, where they collected imagery with the advanced imaging sensor, which is then processed into high-resolution (1-inch ground sample distance) 3-D models.

FEMA’s request for the Michael missions has been for WaldoAir’s 3D mesh product, which provides volumetric measurements of debris piles and integration of resulting digital elevation models into flood modeling.

The imagery collected may also be used to supplement National Insurance Crime Bureau files.CAP aircrews using the camera pods, under agreement with WaldoAir, have been tasked with surveying heavily damaged Mexico Beach as well as the Port St. Joe and Marianna areas of the Panhandle that Michael impacted.

After their initial flights on Oct. 18, the aircrews have continued their image collections over the same areas and will do so through Nov. 16.

Mission pilots Lt. Col. Ande Boyer and Maj. Deming Gray, two of the four Tennessee Wing aircrew members deployed for the Florence response, helped train the Florida Wing members in the use of the WaldoAir system. And there are plans in place to train additional CAP members from Alabama and Georgia in operating the system over the next three weeks as the mission continues.

Boyer said the WaldoAir system is “the highest-quality and most user-friendly total package imaging and image-processing system that I’ve ever seen.” The enhancements “make sortie planning and execution a piece of cake,” he said.

Launched in 2013 by CAP’s AE team, the STEM Kit Program provides K-12 teachers and CAP aerospace education officers with interactive kits to choose from to help their students and cadets find and develop passions in aerospace, aviation, rocketry, robotics and more.

The kits are are also available to formal and informal educators who participate in CAP’s Aerospace Education Member (AEM) Program. The AEM is a special membership category available to educators, who pay a one-time fee of $35 and have free access to the organization’s aerospace education products and programs.

Today’s world is driven by technology, creating a constant and continually growing need for people interested and educated in STEM subjects. CAP’s AE team is committed to fulfilling that need with its STEM kits, which now number 15.

“These are valuable tools used in CAP squadrons and classrooms around the country, exciting youth to STEM-career possibilities,” he said.

STEM Kits available through CAP are:

Astronomy

Bee Bots

Flight Simulator

Hydraulic Engineering

Middle School Math

Model and Remote-Control Aircraft

Quadcopter

Raspberry Pi

Ready-to-Fly Quadcopter

Renewable Energy

Robotics

Rocketry

Snaptricity

Sphero

Weather Station

Since the AE team began offering STEM kits, more than 16,000 have been sent to CAP squadrons and classroom educators, benefiting 500,000 students.

]]>featureThu, 08 Nov 2018 10:32:16 -0600https://content.presspage.com/uploads/1913/500_stemkitcucciariflightsim-152346.jpg?10000One Civil Air Patrol: Showing Solidarity With Victims of ‘Senseless Violence’https://www.cap.news/one-civil-air-patrol-showing-solidarity--with-victims-of-senseless-violence/
https://www.cap.news/one-civil-air-patrol-showing-solidarity--with-victims-of-senseless-violence/As America’s Jewish community continues to mourn the massacre of 11 worshippers at a Pennsylvania synagogue, top leaders within Civil Air Patrol affirmed their support for those who are suffering from the tragedy.

“Once again our nation has been impacted by senseless violence, this time directed against the Jewish faith community,” said CAP National Commander Maj. Gen. Mark Smith, shortly after the shooting rampage on Oct. 27. “As a Civil Air Patrol family, we grieve alongside our Jewish members and stand in solidarity with the Jewish community.”

The general’s message, in part, is still visible today as a scrolled message atop CAP’s main website, GoCivilAirPatrol.com, which reads, “Please keep those impacted by last weekend's horrific act of anti-Semitism in Pittsburgh in your thoughts and prayers.”

The shooting in Pittsburgh’s Squirrel Hill neighborhood, which killed 11 and injured six, was the deadliest attack ever on Jews in the U.S. Suspect Robert Bow

ers, 46, targeted Jews online and made anti-Semitic comments during the shooting. He faces 29 federal charges, some of which are punishable by death.

The tragedy strikes at the heart of all people of faith, including the nearly 450 members of CAP’s Chaplain Corps.

“In the past year several senseless acts of violence have impacted our Civil Air Patrol members, the shooting at Tree of Life Synagogue in Pennsylvania being the most recent. We are truly one Civil Air Patrol, excelling in service to our members and our nation. This means when our members grieve we grieve with them and stand with them in solidarity.

“In 2015 an active shooter killed nine at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in South Carolina. This past Friday the Rev. Eric S.C. Manning, the church pastor, traveled to Pittsburgh to provide solace to Rabbi Jeffrey Myers, show solidarity and ‘pay it forward,’ because of the support his congregation was shown during its tragedy. The Rev. Manning then assisted with the last of the funerals at Tree of Life.

“This show of solidarity by the Rev. Manning embodies all of our Civil Air Patrol core values and serves as a beautiful example we can live by as a CAP family. I ask that you keep all of our members who have been impacted by tragedy in recent weeks or over the past year in your thoughts and prayers.”

Civil Air Patrol is using federal funds from the U.S. Air Force to implement a program designed to help solve a national pilot shortage.

CAP cadets around the nation are enthusiastic about the initiative. Its purpose is to allow them to learn how to fly earlier, enhancing their experience and giving them a head start as they embark on military, commercial and other aviation-focused careers.

The Initiative
“Civil Air Patrol is working with its partners on many fronts to encourage America’s youth to pursue aviation careers,” said John Desmarais, director of operations at CAP National Headquarters. “CAP has a long aviation history, and as needs for more aviation-oriented youth are realized, we are expanding existing programs as well as fielding new ones to address the challenges.

“As we move into fiscal year 2019, CAP will be working hard to implement a significant initiative funded by the Air Force to attack the problems on several fronts,” Desmarais said.

Those measures include:

• $1 million for formal flight instruction of CAP cadets, which is expected to lead to about 240 cadets soloing and another 60 earning their Federal Aviation Administration private pilot certificate;

• $400,000 for CAP to provide cadet orientation flights for Air Force ROTC and Air Force Junior ROTC cadets;

• $500,000 for STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) program support that CAP will use to field more kits for squadrons to employ as part of internal aerospace education programs and for teacher members to use in their classrooms. The STEM money will also support maintaining and updating kits to sustain the program; and

• $500,000 to support career exploration activities for CAP cadets.

CAP offers more than 50 National Cadet Special Activities that enable participants to explore careers in the Air Force as well as the aviation industry by becoming a pilot, building and designing airplanes, managing airlines and serving in space command or pararescue.

“We’re also working hard to expand relationships with industry partners like Delta and American Airlines,” Desmarais added. “This is a developing industry-wide issue, and by working together we can not only encourage cadets to consider pursuing military careers, but also either directly or as a step after the military go into commercial aviation. This also incorporates opportunities with accredited university aviation programs as well, encouraging CAP cadets to explore all opportunities.”

Expanding Opportunities​Wendy Hamilton, manager of cadet career exploration programs at CAP National Headquarters, predicts the initiative will help enhance the organization’s contribution to the aviation industry.

“We’re starting to work with the industry to connect cadets directly to opportunities for pursuing careers in aviation-related fields,” Hamilton said. “The program will expand opportunities for our cadets, such as helping them get their private pilot’s certificate and having the funds to get to that milestone.”

CAP cadets impress aviation-related businesses with their focus and experience.

“Cadets are vetted, and are getting out there and doing the work,” Hamilton said. “This program will help them take the next big step. Youth development programs, not just flying on the weekends, but leadership development, character development, good moral groundings, physical fitness training, all of it plays hand-in-hand. Cadets know how to work as a team.”

Cadets with PotentialCadet Chief Master Sgt. Emma Diane Herrington of the Texas Wing is looking forward to the initiative.

“I believe that this program can help answer the needs of the national pilot shortage, and I can’t wait to do what I can to help,” she said. Herrington has 40 hours of flight time and is in the final stages of obtaining her private pilot certificate.

Cadet Capt. Kevin Martinez of the New Jersey Wing heard about the initiative through his flight instructors and CAP senior members.

“I think it is something I would be deeply interested in, as it helps people like me achieve lifelong goals and aspirations that many think are unreachable,” Martinez said. “Some people may not realize the incredible cost of maintaining flight training, and this program would help me and others like me out immensely in that aspect. I think this is just the program our nation’s youth needs to unlock their true potential.”

Martinez’s flight experience dates back to 2014, when he received his first cadet orientation flight at 12. Fascinated with aviation from an early age, Martinez credits his membership in CAP for opening the door to a new world of opportunities. He has received four powered orientation flights as well as two glider orientation flights.

During the summer Martinez logged 11.7 hours of flight time in nine days at the Southwest Region Powered Flight Academy in Shawnee, Oklahoma. “By the end of the week I soloed for the first time! Although it was just a pattern around the one-runway airport, it felt like I had the entire world at my fingertips. It is unlike any other feeling in the entire world.”

Cadet 1st Lt. Aaron Loya, cadet commander of the Georgia Wing’s Bartow-Etowah Composite Squadron, attended the Texas Wing Glider Flight Academy in 2016 and the Southeast Region Glider Academy this summer, where he flew solo for the first time. He recently began working toward obtaining a powered flight certificate, logging about five hours so far.

These cadets and many others stand ready to reap the benefits that will result from the Youth Aviation Initiative. As multiple doors open for opportunities to better their education and future careers, they will continue to work on personal self-improvement while contributing to CAP’s mission of service to communities and the nation.

]]>featureThu, 01 Nov 2018 15:40:26 -0500https://content.presspage.com/uploads/1913/500_yaiemma-107607.jpg?10000Mich. Wing's Boehmer Selected to Serve on Civil Air Patrol Board of Governorshttps://www.cap.news/mich-wings-boehmer-selected-to-serve-on-civil-air-patrol-board-of-governors/
https://www.cap.news/mich-wings-boehmer-selected-to-serve-on-civil-air-patrol-board-of-governors/A former cadet and lifelong member of Civil Air Patrol has been selected to serve on CAP’s Board of Governors.

Col. Curtis J. Boehmer, 62, of the Michigan Wing was selected Saturday by the CAP Senior Advisory Group, replacing Col. Jayson Altieri as an at-large member of the board. Boehmer’s term begins on Nov. 3.

“I thank Col. Altieri for his contributions and look forward to the opportunity of working with Col. Boehmer in this new capacity,” said Maj. Gen. Mark Smith, CAP’s national commander and CEO. “I am confident that Col. Boehmer will be a great addition to the Board of Governors as a CAP member at large. He brings strong credentials to the position, to include his many years as a member of CAP, a highly successful term as the Michigan Wing commander, his professional experience and his service on other boards.”

Boehmer’s extensive CAP background began at age of 15, when he became a charter member of the Rix Composite Squadron in Michigan Wing. He became the squadron’s cadet commander and earned the Gen. Billy Mitchell Award in 1974 before leaving for the University of Texas/Dallas. He returned to Michigan after majoring in speech pathology and audiology and has held many leadership positions at all levels within the Michigan Wing, including wing commander from July 26, 2014-Sept. 10, 2018. He also served two terms as vice commander (2007-2010/2013-2014) and chief of staff (2005-2007/2012-2013).

Boehmer is a CAP mission observer and has a master rating in command and cadet programs. He is a Gill Robb Wilson (Level 5) Award recipient.

He has served for 10 years at the national Cadet Officer School and has been director of the Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory at the Selfridge Air National Guard Base, Michigan, the Advance Technology Academy in New York and the Great Lakes Region Leadership School. He has also served five times as the Michigan Wing’s encampment commander.

His latest leadership role will be as a member of CAP’s top governing body.

“Being able to serve on the Board of Governors is a great responsibility and privilege,” said Boehmer. “I believe someone that is close to and believes in our members should be on the board, so I am honored to be that person.”

Boehmer, a resident of Harbor Beach, Michigan, has led a very community centered life. While working as a speech and language pathologist with the Huron Intermediate School District, he has owned and operated a successful restaurant, refereed soccer games and sat on the local school board. He has negotiated both labor and construction contracts as a trustee on the school board and as a business owner.

His dedication to community has carried over to his service with Civil Air Patrol.

“With the support of my wife Shelley and our son Lance, Civil Air Patrol has been a center pillar of our lives,” he said. “My goal and drive for the past 47 years has always been to serve CAP and its communities. That dedication to community will continue in my new role as a member of the Board of Governors.”

The Board of Governors, or BoG, consists of four U.S. Air Force appointees, three members appointed jointly by the secretary of the Air Force and CAP’s national commander, and four members-at-large selected by the CAP Senior Advisory Group (CSAG). CAP’s national commander, national vice commander, executive officer and eight region commanders serve as voting members on the CSAG. The CAP inspector general, command chief, chief operating officer and CAP- U.S. Air Force (CAP-USAF) commander are non-voting members of the CSAG.

The 11-member BoG generates strategic policies, plans and programs designed to guide and support the volunteer service of the organization’s 52 wings. CAP’s national commander and chief executive officer, the organization’s chief operating officer and the CAP-USAF commander serve as advisers to the BoG.

]]>featureTue, 30 Oct 2018 11:30:25 -0500https://content.presspage.com/uploads/1913/500_boehmer-with-logosv2-435770-750305.png?1000013 CAP Wing Commanders Headed to Alabama for Leadership Training https://www.cap.news/13-cap-wing-commanders-headed-to-alabama-for-leadership-training/
https://www.cap.news/13-cap-wing-commanders-headed-to-alabama-for-leadership-training/Thirteen new Civil Air Patrol wing commanders will hone their leadership skills next week in the 2018 Wing Commanders College at CAP National Headquarters in Alabama.

Participants in the intense, graduate-level course begins Sunday and runs through Thursday. They are selected for the course by their region commanders and must be approved by Maj. Gen. Mark Smith, CAP’s national commander.

The program focuses on three main blocks of study: leading the organization, wing commander responsibilities and focus lessons. The curriculum features seminars, lectures and hands-on exercises in 20 sessions on such topics as leadership, accountability, expectations of commanders, legislative affairs, media relations and branding, safety, ethics, legal matters, finances and resources.

By the college’s end, participants will have a better understanding of how to select and develop subordinate unit commanders as well as how to manage CAP’s emergency services, aerospace education, cadet, information technology, public affairs, membership development and logistics programs.

It was seemingly a normal day in Panama City Beach, Florida. But a stormy breeziness and rising tides hinted at the devastation that was to come. Thousands of residents there and in surrounding areas predicted to be in the path of Hurricane Michael were ordered to evacuate. Some did. Some didn’t. Among those who did were some 3,500 Tyndall Air Force Base employees, all now displaced from their jobs and many from their homes. Some of them are now operating from Civil Air Patrol National Headquarters at Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama.

“I knew something was going on,” said Master Sgt. Kristen Redmon, whose waterfront home on the lagoon is only a 5-minute car ride from the beach. “The water was encroaching on the dock and it was starting to get breezy,” she said.

Knowing it would be irresponsible to stay when texts from the Air Force were mandating evacuation, she and her husband Geno, the cat Boo and dog Boogers loaded up in the car with maybe three days of clothing and an ice chest filled with basic items from the fridge. A supply of water and a generator were left behind for her best friend, a neighbor who planned to ride out the storm.

The Redmons left two days ahead of the hurricane but stayed in touch with the neighbor, who gave them a firsthand account of the storm’s scary eeriness via cellphone.

“I could hear the wind howling and the roof being ripped off,” she said.

In the middle of their conversation, they lost communications,” she said. A tear eased down her cheek as she recalled that terrifying moment, not knowing for several days that her friend had survived.

At Maxwell, Redmon is doing the job she performed at Tyndall. The base, she said, is seriously damaged and her home is, too. In addition to windows being blown out, shingles ripped off the roof, the attic being lifted and sucked into the home and 1/4-inch of water standing inside, the house is “dented all over” and the wrought iron fence now “looks like a tent.”

Her past experiences with an earthquake and ice storms don’t compare to the “tornado with water in it,” but like many of Hurricane Michael’s victims, she feels “embarrassed to say I have damage.

“Our friends’ damage is really bad compared to ours,” she said.

The Southwest Airlines flight attendant, who works in Tyndall’s air operations control center as a civilian reservist, is on orders at Maxwell for now. She, Boo and Boogers are happy to be in Montgomery while she helps maintain Tyndall’s operations. Geno, a retired Air Force colonel, is back at the beach helping their neighbors recover from the shock, heartbreak and devastation.

“He took a trailer, backhoe, water and eight tanks of diesel fuel down there,” she said. “He’s exhausted emotionally and physically but there are only so many handymen workers and a ton of destruction.”

Lt. Col. Jim Clay, 1st Air Force director of CAP operations, feels lucky as well, though his home on Deer Point Lake on Panama City’s north bay also suffered extensive damage.

“My damage was not as bad as others. It could have been a lot worse,” he said, referring to the 40 trees knocked down on his property, a boat dock ripped apart, broken windows, water intrusion and damage to the roof and soffits. The hurricane touched down a mile and a half from his home.

When it was apparent Hurricane Michael was headed for Tyndall, the base evacuation plan, which included plans for continuing operations, was put into place.

With his fiancé Catherine, a high school algebra teacher, and husky-shepherd mix Aliana in Georgia and already out of harm’s way, Clay relocated to Maxwell.

“I was on the verge of riding it out but changed my mind,” said Clay, realizing that if the worst-case scenario occurred, he needed to be able to continue to carry out his duties for 1st Air Force.

Neighbors Helping Neighbors

“No one got out of this storm without some type of damage,” said Clay, who shared heartwarming stories of the many selfless ways in which people responded to pleas for help issued on social media, via text message and radio station blasts.

“Neighbors are helping neighbors,” he said.

People are bringing gas cans and gas money, offering supplies and alerting emergency service providers regarding critical needs, like help in keeping the generators running at Catherine’s school, which was serving as a storm shelter. “Coy Pilson (the principal) was manning the shelter and taking care of the needs of the community, putting their needs before his own,” said Clay.

And, there is Raymond Seibold, a small engine repairman, who fixed Clay’s generator despite his own pre-storm preparation needs. The generator was used to help keep a man suffering from stage 4 cancer alive.

“He was happy to oblige,” said Clay, adding, “I am blessed to have selfless people in my life.”

Looking to the future, Clay noted there are a lot of unknowns.

“There is no power, no water, no place to buy fuel, no place to buy food. Most have to travel to Dothan, Alabama (over 80 miles) to get fuel and supplies and most don’t have a place to go back to work,” he said.

Relocating to Maxwell

Tyndall evacuees are spread out across the Southern U.S., said Col. Mark Wootan, Civil Air Patrol-U.S. Air Force (CAP-USAF) vice commander. “Several 1st Air Force folks were invited to come here (Maxwell). It makes them feel they still belong to a family, a team and it gives them a place to put down their hat,” he said.

“Their lives have been completely interrupted,” he continued. “We are opening the doors to them, our colleagues, so they can continue to work and function. It’s the right thing to do to help them get back to normal.”

]]>featureFri, 19 Oct 2018 09:10:14 -0500https://content.presspage.com/uploads/1913/500_redmoninoffice2.jpg?10000CAP Radar Team's Henderson, Helm Among 2018 Public Benefit Flying Award Recipientshttps://www.cap.news/cap-radar-teams-henderson-helm-among-2018-public-benefit-flying-award-recipients/
https://www.cap.news/cap-radar-teams-henderson-helm-among-2018-public-benefit-flying-award-recipients/The National Aeronautic Association, in partnership with the Air Care Alliance, a nationwide league of humanitarian flying organizations, announced the recipients of the 2018 Public Benefit Flying Awards today. The awards were created to honor volunteer pilots, other volunteers and organizations engaged in flying to help others, as well as those supporting such work.

Among this year’s recipients are two members of Civil Air Patrol’s National Radar Analysis Team, Lt. Col. John Henderson and 2nd Lt. Argon Helm, who developed and oversaw two new software programs — “The Sandbox,” which allows emergency managers to view a live radar feed for search and rescue efforts and “ICARUS,” which uses computer algorithms to predict when aircraft have crashed.

Their efforts, according to the release, “have tremendously improved the speed and accuracy of national, state and local authorities to locate missing aircraft,” earning them PBF’s 2018 Distinguished Volunteer award.

Henderson, who serves as vice commander of the radar team, has worked on 315 missing aircraft missions, resulting in 198 finds and 20 saves.

Other recipients of 2018 Public Benefit Flying Awards include:

Distinguished Volunteer PilotEarning her first of many pilot certificates in 1975, Merry Schroeder is one of LightHawk’s longest serving volunteers, donating 387 flights since 1987 in some of the most challenging conditions faced by conservation volunteer pilots. She also donated 215 flights with Angel Flight from 2003 to 2017. Merry remains an active LightHawk volunteer pilot, and has also served as a board member, donor and community representative.

Outstanding Achievement in Advancement of Public Benefit FlyingJoe Howley turned his passion and business success into a vehicle for raising awareness for charitable aviation. With his support and connections, Patient Airlift Services (PALS) has engaged pilots to fly, garnered financial support, and established relationships with partnering organizations, all in the name of furthering the benefits of Public Benefit Flying.

The Public Benefit Flying Awards will be presented at NAA’s annual Fall Awards Dinner on Nov. 27 at the Crystal Gateway Marriott in Arlington, Virginia.

About NAAThe National Aeronautic Association is a nonprofit membership organization devoted to fostering opportunities to participate fully in aviation activities and to promoting public understanding of the importance of aviation and space flight to the United States. NAA is the caretaker of some of the most important aviation awards in the world, and certifies all national aviation records set in the United States. For more information, visit www.naa.aero.

About ACAThe Air Care Alliance is a nonprofit public service organization supporting the work of dozens of volunteer-based charitable organizations whose members fly to help others. ACA is devoted to fostering, enhancing, and promoting public benefit flying in the United States and other countries. For more information, visit www.aircarealliance.org.

Members of Civil Air Patrol's Southeast Region continue to serve state and federal disaster relief officials by documenting the tremendous damage caused by Hurricane Michael's path across Florida and Georgia.

As of Wednesday, CAP's Florida Wing flew 67 sorties and captured more than 3,500 high-definition aerial photos. Meanwhile, Georgia Wing crews have made 55 flights and took more than 2,700 photos from the air.

Also, Georgia Wing members assisted with the use of a Surrogate Predator unmanned aerial system launched from Mobile, Alabama, to survey damage in three areas along the coast of Florida's Panhandle.

“In 40 years of working disaster missions, this one has the most intense and concentrated damage I’ve seen,” said Lt. Col. Bill Weiler, planning section chief for Florida Wing’s response mission.

CAP, acting as the Air Force Auxiliary, is supporting Air Force Northern (AFNORTH) during Defense Support of Civil Authorities operations following the landfall of Michael on the Gulf Coast.

AFNORTH's primary role is to support U.S. Northern Command's efforts to provide assistance for the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s relief efforts.

Officials said the Category 4 storm, which made landfall on Oct. 10, killed at least 32 people in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina and Virginia.

Weiler said almost 60 Florida Wing members, all volunteers in the Air Force auxiliary, were deployed to assist the 1st Air Force, FEMA and the Florida Department of Emergency Management. The wing has flown almost 170 hours.

“This came despite many of the members being directly impacted by the storm,” he said.

Georgia Wing posted similar numbers, with 69 members deployed and has flown more than 145 flight hours.

The immediate emergency missions tasked to both the Florida and Georgia wings have been accomplished, said Col. Barry Melton, commander of CAP’s Southeast Region, which includes responsibility for the two states.

“CAP is now providing aerial imaging and reporting of conditions around points of distribution and other governmental and volunteer help centers,” Melton said. “This assures the centers are in the safest and most accessible locations for the citizens they are serving.”

Florida Wing Vice Commander Lt. Col. Rafael Salort said CAP will continue to respond to state and FEMA requests to support their activities, helping Florida residents recover from the storm.

“Our Florida Wing volunteer Airmen and partners have shown an outstanding level of dedication and professionalism during this hurricane preparedness and response efforts,” he said.

Lt. Col. Jerusha McLeod Dooley of the National Capital Wing in the District of Columbia, originally from the Destin, Florida area, got her first look at conditions near her hometown as sensor operator for the Surrogate Remotely Piloted Aircraft, or SRPA.

CAP maintains the SRPA for training of U.S. military and coalition forces. It records high-resolution images and video in visual and near-infrared modes.

Georgia Wing is winding down its involvement. But the images members recorded on these missions are seared into their memories.

“We were evaluating hospitals, farming areas and several other items of interest,” Mooney said of his survey of Georgia damage. “We could see huge old oak trees with immense root balls overturned, lots of roof damage and trees on houses.

“I know people are in distress," he said. “It is always hard to see these things.”

Georgia Wing Commander Col. Andrea Van Buren had nothing but praise for the service of her state’s members.

“Despite being in the path of the storm, Georgia Wing had members volunteering even before the mission became a reality,” she said. “Our incident commanders and support staff, our ground and air crews — all are to be commended for a job well done.”

Lt. Col. Bill Weiler, one of the wing’s incident commanders, said the volunteer civilian auxiliary of the U.S. Air Force was flying sorties until daylight faded.

Weiler’s team, flying two aircraft out of Pensacola and Tallahassee, was given 10 aerial photo targets by federal disaster relief officials. “If we don’t complete all 10 of the current flight tasks before losing light,” he said, “they will be done in the morning.”

Weiler said Florida Wing crews focused mostly on damage assessments of federal property in the Panhandle, the area hardest hit when the Category 4 storm roared into the state at Mexico Beach Wednesday with winds clocked at 155 miles an hour.

He added, “We’re doing road access assessment to facilitate better ground relief routing. We can identify flooding, damage and large debris blocked areas emergency services and residents may encounter in the impacted areas.”

CAP, acting as the Air Force Auxiliary, is supporting Air Force Northern (AFNORTH) during Defense Support of Civil Authorities operations following the landfall of Michael on the Gulf Coast.

AFNORTH's primary role is to support U.S. Northern Command's efforts to provide assistance to the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s relief efforts.

Col. Barry Melton, commander of CAP’s Southeast Region, said his six-wing group established an area command to respond to missions related to the storm’s aftermath, which he described as “a coordination point for personnel and resources flowing in and out of the affected area.”

The effort, headed by Lt. Col. Joe Knight, will also maintain contact with the Atlanta regional headquarters of FEMA, Melton said.

“The Southeast Region stands ready to assist the affected areas, including the Carolinas, if needed,” he said.

CAP's Southeast Region includes about 10,000 members serving in Florida, Georgia and Alabama, as well as Tennessee, Mississippi, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Meanwhile, in Georgia, CAP crews received 18 mission taskings and completed two sorties over four counties in the southwest part of Georgia.

Col. Carlton Sumner, Georgia Wing’s director of emergency services, said members are uploading aerial photos from those sorties to federal and state officials, who will use them “to triage damage and response to those in need.”

Sumner said the storm presented some unique challenges. “The rapid movement required a constantly evolving plan, particularly with respect to available personnel and assets,” he said. “From hour to hour, we had to update that information.”

For example, Sumner said, areas in the extreme southeast and coastal Georgia were originally in the tropical storm wind path, making those units unavailable for deployment. However, when the storm took a more north-northeast route, we gained the use of those members.

“We always emphasize safety first,” he said. “Most Georgia Wing members appear to be safe. But, we are still awaiting full reports from those in the heavily affected southwest part of the state.”

]]>FeatureThu, 11 Oct 2018 21:30:23 -0500https://content.presspage.com/uploads/1913/500_refueling2.jpg?10000Charter Member of CAP's Board of Governors, Bruce Whitman, Dieshttps://www.cap.news/charter-member-of-caps-board-of-governors-bruce-whitman-dies/
https://www.cap.news/charter-member-of-caps-board-of-governors-bruce-whitman-dies/Bruce Whitman, chairman, president and CEO of FlightSafety International and a charter member of Civil Air Patrol’s Board of Governors, died Wednesday at his home in New York. He was 85.

“We are very sorry to report that Mr. Bruce Whitman, a highly respected emeritus member who served on the Board of Governors for nine years, passed away yesterday,” said John Salvador, CAP’s chief operating officer, in an announcement made to the organization’s corporate employees and its 61,000 members.

Whitman was selected as CAP’s first Board of Governor emeritus in April 2014, recognizing his service as a charter member of the governing body. He joined the Board of Governors when it was formed in 2001 and remained on the board through May 2010.

During his tenure on the Board of Governors, he served on the Audit Committee and proved instrumental in challenging CAP to seek an unqualified audit opinion. As a result, the organization adopted the Wing Banker Program, which it currently uses, and earned its first unqualified audit in 2008.

Whitman’s death Wednesday prompted an immediate reaction throughout the aviation community, where he was widely recognized as an industry leader.

“All of us with FlightSafety are deeply saddened by Bruce’s passing …” read a statement from FlightSafety, where Whitman had served as CEO since 2003. “We are deeply indebted to Bruce for his many contributions to the aviation industry, his service in the United States Air Force, support of our veterans and those who currently serve, his contributions to Orbis International, and dedication to educate and foster patriotism among young people. We are thankful for his outstanding leadership of FlightSafety and especially for his friendship, guidance, and vision.”

FlightSafety International is the world’s premier professional aviation training company and supplier of flight simulators, visual systems and displays to commercial, government and military organizations. Whitman had worked in an executive capacity at the company since 1961, following two years as senior executive assistant with the National Business Aircraft Association and service in the Air Force, where he earned ratings as a pilot, navigator and bombardier before being appointed assistant to the commander at Homestead Air Force Base in 1957.

In addition to his work with FlightSafety, Whitman served in many advisory and leadership positions in aviation groups, including the National Business Aircraft Association, Flight Safety Foundation, National Air Transport Association’s Air Charter Safety Foundation, General Aviation Manufacturers Association and National Aeronautic Association. He was chairman emeritus of the Congressional Medal of Honor Foundation and a director emeritus of the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. He was awarded the Living Legends of Aviation Lifetime Aviation Industry Leader Award in 2013.

]]>FeatureThu, 11 Oct 2018 16:11:07 -0500https://content.presspage.com/uploads/1913/500_whitman-image.jpg?41435CAP Awarded American Airlines Grant to Support Pilot Shortage Initiatives https://www.cap.news/cap-awarded-american-airlines-grant-to-support-pilot-shortage-initiatives/
https://www.cap.news/cap-awarded-american-airlines-grant-to-support-pilot-shortage-initiatives/American Airlines is helping Civil Air Patrol address a national emphasis on pilot shortages by providing grant funding to be used to train the next generation of aviators.

CAP, one of 17 American Airlines grant recipients, was awarded $25,000. The grants totaling $337,000 will benefit aviation-focused schools and organizations across America.

In American Airlines’ grant announcement, made Wednesday via news release, Capt. David Tatum, director of Pilot Recruiting and Development, said, “We believe we’re making the pilot profession more visible, accessible and obtainable to a broader range of people than ever before.”

“Solving a national pilot shortage is an industry-wide issue,” said CAP National Commander Maj. Gen. Mark Smith. “Our partnership with American Airlines will benefit programs designed to encourage CAP cadets to consider pursing aviation careers.”

Civil Air Patrol’s cadet program for youth 12 to 21 years old emphasizes pilot training through 19 National Flight Academies offered annually, as well as local academies and one-on-one training provided by over 600 active CAP flight instructors. In fiscal year 2019, these programs also will be complemented by $2.4 million in funding from the U.S. Air Force that will be used to support formal flight instruction, cadet orientation flights and science, technology, engineering and math initiatives.

To date, American’s Flight Education Grant program has awarded 34 grants totaling $789,000 to flight schools, nonprofit organizations, and middle school, high school and college-level organizations that generate innovative and creative ideas for growing and diversifying the nation’s pool of pilots. The American Airlines Cadet Academy, another innovative initiative targeting the pilot shortage, provides aspiring pilots of all backgrounds with the opportunity to receive training, financing and mentoring opportunities necessary to fly for American Airlines.

The commander of Civil Air Patrol’s Southeast Region asked its volunteer Airmen to stand ready to assist Florida and other states as Hurricane Michael made landfall this afternoon as a powerful Category 4 storm.

Col. Barry Melton said CAP, the U.S. Air Force civilian auxiliary, was expecting to be called to service first in Florida, then likely in Alabama and Georgia, as Michael makes its way inland from the Gulf of Mexico.

The storm is the largest on record to hit the Florida Panhandle, with winds clocked up to 155 miles per hour.

“Our first priority is to ensure our CAP members and their families are safe and that our members are able to respond to assigned missions,” Melton said.

“We also stand by to assist the Carolinas as the storm passes through those states, just as we did after the passage of Hurricane Florence."

Melton said CAP’s primary tasking will be to provide aerial imagery to the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which allow leadership “to make decisions and prioritize their response in the disaster zones.”

CAP's Southeast Region includes about 10,000 members serving in Florida, Georgia and Alabama, as well as Tennessee, Mississippi, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Florida Wing Commander Col. Luis Garcia said his members moved all aircraft to hurricane-rated hangars and out of the storm's path earlier this week. Other assets, including mobile communications trailers, were also moved to safe locations, he said.

“The wing has finalized preparations for responding to Hurricane Michael,” Garcia said. “We are standing by for any response.”

He urged his members, who serve their communities and state as unpaid volunteers as part of CAP’s disaster service mission, to “be safe in all your actions.”

“Please keep our fellow CAP Airmen who are in Hurricane Michael’s path in your thoughts,” Garcia said in a message to the Florida Wing.

After responding to four major hurricanes in two years, Southeast Region personnel demonstrated their expertise in preparation and readiness well in advance of Hurricane Michael.

Georgia Wing Commander Col. Andrea Van Buren said this will be the fifth major storm to hit her state since 2016. She said Michael’s fast-moving winds and wide path required a slightly different strategy than its predecessors.

“This particular storm is moving north-northeast through a much wider area of the state, so even middle Georgia could have 120 mile-per-hour winds,” she said. “Our team is constantly evaluating and updating our plan to respond to changing conditions.”

Preparation for Hurricane Michael began four days before landfall, with initial notifications to begin securing CAP assets, she said. Wing personnel were tracking the evolving situation and providing on-going updates to units throughout Georgia.

Meanwhile, Van Buren said Georgia Wing also has secured its aircraft and other disaster-response assets and “stands ready around the state for post-storm response.“

She added, “As always, our first priority is the safety and security of members and their families.”

A save Sunday afternoon off the southern tip of Florida has given Civil Air Patrol a new record for lives saved in a fiscal year – 155, as credited by the Air Force Rescue Coordination Center (AFRCC).

Virtually all of those saves – 147, or 95 percent – occurred with the support of CAP’s National Cell Phone Forensics Team.

The organization totaled 154 saves in fiscal 1983 and again in fiscal 1994, surpassing 100 in 16 of the previous 51 years. Before that, saves weren't reported annually.

“An amazing year for CAP!” was the response of Maj. Gen. Mark Smith, CAP national commander, when he learned of the record-breaking number of saves.

The Florida save occurred after the AFRCC at Tyndall Air Force Base, Florida, contacted the cell phone team at 4:20 p.m. about a boater whose disabled craft ran aground after he left Naples, Florida, at 9 a.m. Contacting the relevant cell phone provider resulted in information about a ping 5,000 meters off Joe Kemp Key.

At 5:21 p.m., just over an hour after the AFRCC contacted the cell phone team, the U.S. Coast Guard used the team’s data to find the boater.

The new saves record reflects continuous advances in technology and training in one of CAP’s key missions, search and rescue.

CAP’s total team effort for search and rescue, which also includes the National Radar Analysis Team and state- and locally based ground teams, totaled 1,044 missions for fiscal 2018.

The cell phone team participated in 373 of those missions, compared with 78 for the radar team. In addition to saves, the AFRCC credited CAP with 640 finds for fiscal 2018, of which 199 involved the cell team and 53 the radar team.

Last year the total number of missions stood at 798. The mission count for fiscal 2016 was 946.

Before 2009, the AFRCC assigned about 2,000 missions a year to CAP, with searches for activated emergency locator transmitters dominating. After the satellite system that monitored the old 121.5 megahertz beacons was turned off in February 2009, the annual mission count dropped by at least half.

Technology's impact
Since then, the cell phone team has been a major contributor to the rising annual mission count.

“Technology has changed how we do business,” said John Desmarais, CAP's director of operations. “We’re saving more lives and doing more in a cost-effective manner.”

“We’re always making tweaks to software, and constantly working to make sure we don’t waste time or put people at risk,” he said. “Both our cellular forensics team and the National Radar Analysis Team are revolutionizing how we support SAR operations.”

Cell phone data is often the first tool used in a search for a missing individual, as most people, including pilots, go nowhere these days without a cell phone. Cellular data can eliminate search areas and curtail the search time.

Lost hikers, snowmobilers, skiers and boaters have been found with the help of cell phone data.

“It’s not just where the phone last was, but we can get a picture of a stream of events over time,” said Maj. Justin Ogden, who built and has improved the software the cell team uses.

That team, which began with Ogden in 2006, now has eight members. It’s growing to meet the increasing requests for support, Desmarais said.

Early on, Ogden would manipulate cell phone data by hand in Excel and then use Google Earth to inform searchers. Now, smartphones are ubiquitous and the amount of data they provide is too overwhelming to work by hand.

So Ogden created software that would crunch the raw data and pour it into a program that connects to Google Earth.

When a person or plane is reported missing, ground search begins using clues from the cell phone team. Across the country, about 900 ground teams of three to six people are called upon to provide the feet, eyes and ears in a ground search, Desmarais said.

An incident commander, once notified, contacts wing personnel. The incident commander identifies staff and field resources and ground team members to go in and assist either the relevant state agency or the CAP commander, depending on which one is leading the mission.

“It’s all investigative work, with people analyzing data,” Desmarais said.

As a search grows longer, incident commanders make decisions about the scale of the effort and resourcing in order not to waste time or put people at risk.

Hand-in-handCAP may lead a search or help a local jurisdiction with a search.

“What ends up happening with cell phone data in most cases is that we’ll push it to local jurisdictions,” Desmarais said. “We offer whatever assistance we can provide, but some states are well-equipped, too. Some may need physical ground searchers. We do what we can for them.”

The cell phone team stays busy with searches for both aircraft and individuals, such as lost hikers. Summer is an especially busy time. The team worked its 1,500th mission this July searching for a lost hiker in Utah.

Despite damages to his family home from Hurricane Florence and a lengthy evacuation, Cadet Tech Sgt. Corbin Endre is helping ensure storm and flood victims receive much-needed disaster relief supplies at Civil Air Patrol’s Point of Distribution in Wilmington, North Carolina.

As Hurricane Florence bore down on Wilmington, Endre and his family prepared to evacuate. "This was not our first hurricane living in North Carolina, but it was the first one where we felt evacuation was the right way to go," said the Brunswick County Composite Squadron cadet’s mother, 2nd Lt Heather Endre. Corbin’s father, 2nd Lt. Mark Endre, also belongs to the Brunswick County Squadron, as does his brother, Cadet Senior Master Sgt. Justin Endre.

As the family packed up and evacuated inland, they carried supplies for a week, not knowing that their evacuation would extend 11 days. Corbin packed his treasured karate belts, his Xbox and his CAP Airman Battle Uniform.

"At the last squadron meeting before we evacuated, our deputy commander for seniors, 2nd Lt. Cynthia Willard, told us that after the hurricane we may not be called to do a mission because we would likely be the mission."

After Florence hit Wilmington and the surrounding areas, the evacuated Endre family watched news of the rivers rising and their routes home being shut down, one by one. Roads were flooded or washed completely away, or trees and power lines lay across them, making the way home impassable.

After a week and a half, they returned home to the devastation left by Florence. Storm damage to their home included blown-out screens, crushed fencing and numerous felled trees. On Saturday morning, while Heather and Justin Endre helped clear debris from Justin's school, Mark and Corbin Endre got to work with pole saws and chainsaws clearing the fallen trees near their home.

That morning Corbin saw notification of the Points of Distribution mission CAP had opened in Wilmington. He immediately contacted his local CAP coordinator to add his name to the mission list; the next morning, he showed up at the mission base near Wilmington at 5:30 a.m., ready to serve.

He has been helping out at the POD every day since.

"Since we didn't have that much damage at our house, I felt an obligation to help those who needed it,” he said. “Volunteer service is a CAP cadet core value, and one of the primary missions of CAP is emergency services."

The family’s squadron commander, Maj. Kathy Nicholas, noted that damage from wind and water was extensive in many Brunswick County neighborhoods, and most of the members of the unit’s squadron evacuated before the hurricane made landfall. The few who stayed saw the powerful force of the storm up close.

Brunswick County encompasses a large, low-lying area and the squadron’s members are spread out over several communities. For those who left, like the Endres, flooding and impassable roads meant getting back home took many days. Upon arrival they found trees down, leaks from wind-driven rain, water damage from blown-off roofing tiles, flooding and loss of power for multiple days. One cadet’s family was left isolated when emergency responders were unable to access their neighborhood.

Many local North Carolina Wing members were looking after their own families and homes, but the Brunswick County Composite Squadron was able to send three senior members and a cadet, in addition to Corbin Endre, to help with the POD mission. Cape Fear Composite Squadron members who were directly affected by Florence served at the POD site as well.

“Our unit appreciates how our fellow CAP members in the state, from Virginia, Maryland, the Middle East Region and throughout the extended CAP community, came to our area to provide disaster relief,” said Nicholas, the Brunswick County squadron commander. “We are honored to be able to serve alongside these great members of our CAP family. Thank you!”

She added, “Cadet Endre is an exceptional cadet and leader. Through his volunteer actions he exemplifies service before self and excellence in accomplishing a mission well.”

The North Carolina Wing is supporting emergency services missions for the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the North Carolina Department of Emergency Management and other federal, state and local governments as North Carolina works to recover from Hurricane Florence.

CAP, acting as the Air Force Auxiliary, is supporting Air Forces Northern during Defense Support of Civil Authorities operations following the landfall of Hurricane Florence on the East Coast. AFNORTH's primary role is to support U.S. Northern Command's efforts to provide assistance to the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Hurricane Florence relief efforts.

September is National Preparedness Month, prompting many government agencies to stress the importance of anticipating emergencies to the general public ... because they will happen.

For Civil Air Patrol, though, preparedness has always been in the organization’s DNA.

“We prepare to support a variety of disasters, but obviously also support search and rescue missions, communications activities and many other Air Force missions like air defense intercept training and helping training warfighters in the use of sensors,” said John Desmarais, CAP's national operations director.

“Bottom line, we are probably not the CAP that people may have seen years ago. We do so much more now, as we continue to change to meet the needs of our nation.”

This month, some 3,000 global, national and local governments and private and public health institutions are encouraging preparedness efforts for all: The effort to help Americans prepare for disaster is detailed on the official website for the Department of Homeland Security.

Facing FlorenceHurricane Florence is bringing many of these lessons home with a vengeance after barreling onshore in North Carolina on Sept. 14. Residents throughout the Carolinas faced their own personal emergencies; many still are.

For the multitudes who evacuated and for others affected by widespread flooding, preparedness could include maintaining a supply kit, knowing their evacuation path and setting up communication with family.

CAP members go well beyond such basics.

“In preparation for the hurricanes, our members made sure equipment was ready and secure to ride out the storms, and once the storm cleared they have responded by collecting imagery, supporting emergency communications, transporting critical supplies and meeting any other requests we can reasonably support,” Desmarais said.

In doing so, they were drawing on strenuous training at the local, wing, region and national levels.

Emergency services trainingCAP members undergo a wide variety of training, whether in the air, on the ground or the classroom. They focus on such topics as flying, professional development, leadership at the senior member and cadet levels, aerospace education, high-tech equipment operation and youth development.

The highest-profile emergency services training opportunities are those offered through national activities like Hawk Mountain Ranger School and the National Emergency Services Academy (NESA)

“The training we do at NESA (and other programs) all go toward meeting our broader goal of being able to respond when called upon,” Desmarais said.

Hawk MountainIn 1953, Air Force pararescue and survival instructors trained Pennsylvania Wing search and rescue teams at Westover Air Force Base, Massachusetts. In 1956, the school moved to property at Hawk Mountain, Pennsylvania, belonging to Col. Philip Neuweiler, Pennsylvania Wing commander from 1947-1970.

“We’re teaching cadets and senior members to go back and build emergency services in their unit and then teach and lead members in the field,” said Lt. Col. Brian J. Cuce, director of emergency services for the Pennsylvania Wing. “Anyone who graduates the school is encouraged and able to go back to their units and teach the skills they learned as a basic student.”

Training at Hawk Mountain starts with foundational skills. From there students may progress to Fully Qualified and Expert Ranger levels and choose either the Ranger track or Medic track.

This summer, 240 members from most CAP wings came to Kempton, Pennsylvania, for Hawk Mountain.

NESAIn 1996, Desmarais began the National Ground Search and Rescue School at the Miller School of Albemarle in Charlottesville, Virginia. Two years later it moved to Camp Atterbury in Edinburgh, Indiana.

The school evolved into the National Emergency Services Academy, and it now consists of three schools: Ground Search and Rescue, Mission Aircrew and Incident Command System. NESA added training for incident staff in 1998 and mission aircrew members in 2000.

This summer 490 participants attended, representing every CAP Wing. Many are currently working to support Hurricane Florence operations.

Looking aheadA major update is in the works to align all CAP training, led by NESA staff members and experts from across the country, which embrace changing federal standards and reflect technological advances such as cell phone and radar forensics, airborne sensor collection and management.

Work is also underway to offer training at other times of year and locations as well as through distance-learning opportunities. Several new course offerings were rolled out during the summer and are now available in smaller sessions throughout the rest of the year.

“The newest addition is for small Unmanned Aerial System (sUAS) training to be added to the slate of main school courses and year-round sessions,” Desmarais said. “Some people don’t know we are doing that.”

Staff members are working with wings across the country to provide sUAS training in October in preparation for expanding this program.

At Hawk Mountain, new initiatives include making training more accessible through online resources. Also, Cuce is looking into appointing liaisons in each CAP region and using them to develop weekend training.

As both Hawk Mountain and NESA refine and update their training, CAP members have choices.

“NESA is probably more of a traditional school environment, where there is a combination of field and academic work in a classroom,” Desmarais said. “Hawk Mountain has students in the field throughout the event, sleeping in shelters and tents the whole time.

“Both have value, and some people prefer one environment over the other.”

But, the end goal is the same – to have highly trained members who are prepared to meet the needs at hand.

Part of the South Carolina Wing’s role in responding to flooding from Hurricane Florence changed over the weekend, as four ground teams were deployed throughout the state to assist the Federal Emergency Management Agency with measuring high-water marks in specific locations.

FEMA defines high-water marks as “physical marks resulting from floods and flash floods that designate the location and elevation of floodwater from a storm event.”

The Civil Air Patrol ground teams were tasked with identifying mud or silt lines, noting debris lines or debris snags (where debris was washed into trees or shrubs), and identifying lines of seeds, fibers and minuscule debris that floated on the water before being left behind in shrubs and trees.

Finding those tell-tale signs of flooding was just the first step in completing the mission. The teams also were tasked with downloading the FEMA app for reporting such data and ensuring their cellphones had functional GPS. They were responsible for recording and photographing the high-water marks using measuring tapes, rulers and yard sticks and then uploading those images directly to a FEMA database.

“There were targets we were given and as we drove to those places, there were many we couldn’t access because everything there is still underwater,” said Lt. Col. Nikki Shaffner, the South Carolina Wing’s chief of staff and a member of one of the ground teams. ‘

“I saw flooded yards and flooded houses and so much devastation. It was really heart-wrenching to know what some people in South Carolina are going through,” Shaffner said.

Ground assignments changed again Sunday, as FEMA and the National Guard assigned two teams to examine 110 flooding-affected county roads throughout the state

“Our ground teams are tasked with providing information to FEMA, the National Guard and engineers to determine what resources need to be used in which locations regarding roads in the state,” said Lt. Col. Patrick Fulgham, planning section chief for the Florence mission and commander of the Virginia Wing’s Langley Composite Squadron.

CAP, acting as the U.S. Air Force Auxiliary, is supporting Air Forces Northern (AFNORTH) during Defense Support of Civil Authorities operations following the landfall of Hurricane Florence on the East Coast. AFNORTH’s primary role is to support U.S. Northern Command’s efforts to provide assistance to FEMA's relief efforts.

The North Carolina Wing received a priority tasking on Friday – with normal services disrupted by flooding and other damage spawned by Hurricane Florence, multiple sick infants in eastern North Carolina were running out of special baby formula they needed to survive.

The state Department of Health and Human Services asked for Civil Air Patrol’s help in getting the specialized formula to the infants in the small town of Wallace. At least one premature baby was at critical risk of running out of the special formula, officials said.

A four-member ground team – Capt. Tim Bagnell, Cadet Maj. Cody Matthews, Cadet Master Sgt. Cooper Morton and Cadet Senior Airman Anastasia Vermillion -- left Wing Headquarters in Burlington around noon for the state agency’s Nutrition Services Branch in Raleigh, about 60 miles away, to pick up the formula.

The team then headed east to make the delivery. Reaching Wallace required dodging flooded roads and highways – including submerged sections of Interstate 40 – and taking multiple detours and side roads along what’s normally about a 100-mile route.

Upon arrival, the four North Carolina wing members were met by a local law enforcement officer who escorted them to the delivery location. Upon receiving the much-needed formula, family members thanked the CAP team profusely for their efforts.

“It was a great honor to represent Civil Air Patrol and help the Health Department get this formula to these vulnerable babies,” Matthews said.

Bagnell is emergency services officer for the Orange County Composite Squadron. Matthews is a member of the Winston Salem Composite Squadron. Morton and Vermillion belong to the Burlington Composite Squadron.

The North Carolina Wing is using its 18 aircraft, CAP vans and almost 2,000 volunteer members to support emergency services missions for the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the North Carolina Department of Emergency Management, the Department of Homeland Security, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and other federal, state and local agencies as the state works to recover from Hurricane Florence.

To date, the wing has flown 110 missions to date and has conducted the same number of ground missions. With more than 225 flyover targets for damage assessment photographs, the air operations branch has generated 1,214 still images showing the storm’s impact. More flights are expected the next few days as rivers crest in affected areas.

CAP, acting as the U.S. Air Force Auxiliary, is supporting Air Forces Northern (AFNORTH) during Defense Support of Civil Authorities operations following the landfall of Hurricane Florence on the East Coast. AFNORTH’s primary role is to support U.S. Northern Command’s efforts to provide assistance to FEMA's relief efforts.

The South Carolina Wing’s Florence Composite Squadron provided accommodations for the Pennsylvania Helicopter Aquatic Rescue Team after Hurricane Florence made landfall in South Carolina on Sept. 14.

The eight-man crew was able to land its Black Hawk helicopter at the helipad outside the Florence squadron’s headquarters, based along the Interstate 95 corridor, and rest in the unit’s building between missions.

“Being based out of the Florence squadron building allowed them to respond more quickly to those in need,” said CAP 1st Lt. Jane Proell, Florence deputy commander for cadets.

“The team indicated that meeting a rescue request would have taken 45 minutes to an hour if they had to fly from their pre-strike location. Their proximity to the rescue area meant they could potentially be in a rescue situation within 15 minutes,” Proell said.

PA-HART is a joint partnership among the Pennsylvania Army National Guard, Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission and Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency, along with credentialed civilian rescue technicians.

In addition to hosting the PA-HART team, three Florence members — Lt. Col. William B. Cheney III, 1st Lt. Christopher Hawley and Cadet Chief Master Sgt. Spencer Taylor — have worked to monitor the extreme eastern portion of South Carolina with a radio repeater.

Recently the Florence squadron completed renovations of its facility, which made accommodating the eight-man Pennsylvania aircrew easier. In addition, the squadron was officially announced today as one of seven Quality Cadet Units in the South Carolina Wing.

CAP, acting as the U.S. Air Force Auxiliary, is supporting Air Forces Northern (AFNORTH) during Defense Support of Civil Authorities operations following the landfall of Hurricane Florence on the East Coast. AFNORTH’s primary role is to support U.S. Northern Command’s efforts to provide assistance to FEMA's relief efforts.

The air operations branches at Civil Air Patrol’s incident command posts in the Carolinas have been very active over the past four days, flying long sorties in order to meet the requests of the Federal Emergency Management Agency and other federal and state agencies in both states.

Aircrews from both the North Carolina and South Carolina wings have already taken thousands of reconnaissance photos in response to Hurricane Florence, working to provide FEMA, the North Carolina Emergency Management Division, the Department of Homeland Security, the South Carolina Highway Patrol, South Carolina Law Enforcement Division, South Carolina Air Guard and other agencies with an overhead view of rivers, dams and townships affected by the rising floodwaters.

CAP is also conducting post-storm survey flights for the National Weather Service.

The North Carolina Wing has flown 84 sorties so far from its base in Burlington, delivering more than 1,200 photos to emergency management agencies. An additional 1,500 photos have been taken by South Carolina aircrews, who have flown 107 sorties.

In addition to damage assessment flights, CAP is flying other missions around the Carolinas, including transporting emergency response personnel and Points of Distribution supplies into hard-hit areas.

The North Carolina Wing is using its 18 CAP Cessna 172s and 182s to help support CAP’s response to Hurricane Florence.

“We train regularly to serve our communities in times of emergency,” said Col. R. Jason Bailey, North Carolina Wing commander. “Our pilots, aircrews, ground teams and Points of Distribution personnel have all performed selflessly. They demonstrate daily to our communities that we are ready, willing and able to help them and serve their needs.”

In addition to the nine of the 10 active CAP aircraft in the South Carolina Wing fleet, two planes and 13 out-of-state CAP members have assisted in meeting the aerial photo assignments, which continued to be developed.

CAP cadets and senior members on the ground are responsible for downloading the aircrews’ photos and then uploading them to databases. As the members complete the uploads, they ensure the photos have geotags, color-code the severity of the damage and add other photo tags while placing the images in the proper online albums.

In West Columbia, South Carolina, as many as 30-40 CAP personnel have staffed the incident command post, mostly working on photography uploads as well as communications and planning.

Completing this sorting on the ground at the incident command posts mean officials at the Emergency Operations Centers in both states have fewer raw, unsorted images to sift through daily.

In addition, CAP members are serving continuously at their states’ Emergency Operations Centers. Members of the North Carolina Wing also are staffing the state Department of Emergency Management’s Regional Coordination Center-East in Kinston and Regional Coordination Center-Central in Butner. At least one representative from the South Carolina Wing has been on duty at the state Emergency Operations Center at the Pine Ridge Armory in West Columbia. At times, as many as four CAP personnel have been on duty there.

Both wings are being assisted by CAP members from the Maryland, National Capital, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia wings.

“A very large team has come together in this very trying time to perform extraordinary missions in some very tough conditions,” said Col. John Knowles, commander of CAP’s Middle East Region, which includes both Carolina wings and the Maryland, National Capital, Virginia and West Virginia wings.

“Every day, as our Airmen in the field need rest, five more are waiting in line to take their place. I am incredibly proud of all our unpaid professionals,” Knowles said.

CAP, acting as the U.S. Air Force Auxiliary, is supporting Air Forces Northern (AFNORTH) during Defense Support of Civil Authorities operations following the landfall of Hurricane Florence on the East Coast. AFNORTH’s primary role is to support U.S. Northern Command’s efforts to provide assistance to FEMA's relief efforts.

Hundreds of Civil Air Patrol members from three wings are making an impact this week on the lives of thousands of families visiting the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Points of Distribution (PODs) for vital supplies in North Carolina.

The CAP-trained POD teams are distributing MREs (meals ready to eat) and bottled water, in addition to other emergency supplies like ice and tarps, in storm-stricken communities in the Tar Heel State.

About 80 members of the North Carolina Wing, including cadets as young as 15, are working at the POD sites this week. They have been joined by 120 CAP members from the Virginia Wing and another 30 from the Maryland Wing.

The CAP teams are staffing four distribution sites – three in the Wilmington area and the other in Deep Run. Vehicle and pedestrian traffic is being routed, with the assistance of the North Carolina National Guard, in an assembly-line structure as cadets hand out a case of water and MREs to each family visiting the site. Pallets are off-loaded from tractor-trailers and set up as the supplies are quickly distributed to the community.

Over the first two days, 5,974 cases of water, 6,105 cases of MREs and 1,700 tarps were distributed. On Wednesday. the Maryland Wing members provided supplies to people in 905 vehicles, delivering 10,860 MREs and 28,960 bottles of water. The day before, 10,200 MREs and 20,400 bottles of water were distributed to people in 841 vehicles.

“These are very impressive numbers,” said Col. Joe Winter, commander of the Maryland Wing. “I look at it as that’s nearly 1,800 families that have food and water because Maryland Wing members answered the call to help.”

The Virginia Wing members come from across their state – including almost all city centers, such as Blacksburg, Fredericksburg, Hampton, Hampton Roads, Hanover, Leesburg, Lynchburg, Manassas, Newport News, Richmond, Roanoke, Virginia Beach and Winchester.Six teams left Virginia on Sunday for North Carolina, two more departed on Wednesday and eight more are en route today. Members are remaining in the area for five days to support the mission.

CAP, acting as the Air Force Auxiliary, is supporting Air Forces Northern during Defense Support of Civil Authorities operations following the landfall of Hurricane Florence on the East Coast. AFNORTH's primary role is to support U.S. Northern Command's efforts to provide assistance to the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Florence relief efforts.

]]>featureThu, 20 Sep 2018 17:39:01 -0500https://content.presspage.com/uploads/1913/500_trailerwatera.jpg?10000Specially Equipped CAP Planes Conducting Florence Damage Assessment Flights https://www.cap.news/specially-equipped-cap-planes-conducting-florence-damage-assessment-flights/
https://www.cap.news/specially-equipped-cap-planes-conducting-florence-damage-assessment-flights/Civil Air Patrol is in full launch mode this week in the Carolinas, with aircrews in both states conducting aerial imagery flights with specially equipped planes in support of the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

CAP, acting as the U.S. Air Force Auxiliary, is supporting Air Forces Northern (AFNORTH) during Defense Support of Civil Authorities operations following the landfall of Hurricane Florence on the East Coast. AFNORTH’s primary role is to support U.S. Northern Command’s efforts to provide assistance to FEMA's relief efforts.

Surrogate Predator video
As part of that mission, CAP has launched a Surrogate Predator plane, or Surrogate Remote Piloted Aircraft (RPA), that can record video for review upon landing. The plane is flying sorties in South Carolina, complementing the more traditional Garmin VIRB and Nikon handheld camera imagery collection sorties that are also being flown.

“During this mission, our primary purpose is to support FEMA and its mission taskings,” said Lt. Col. Steve Wood, deputy commander of CAP’s Green Flag East Flight, which is based in Alexandria, Louisiana.

The Surrogate RPA, flown from its Louisiana operations base, was deployed in South Carolina to identify critical flooding issues along the upstate Lynches and Black rivers, where Florence dumped more than 30 inches of rain over the past weekend.

The aircrew flying the Surrogate RPA used the plane’s limited near real-time capability to report critical findings to supporting ground forces. They also delivered to federal and state emergency managers post-flight recordings of full-color, high-quality video taken during their flights documenting debris collection along the rivers and recording water levels as the rivers reach flood stage.

The aircrew also flew over the Intracoastal Waterway from Georgetown, South Carolina, into North Carolina. The crew recorded information concerning bridges, a lake dam and the water around these structures, which had risen significantly as a result of Florence.

CAP’s Surrogate RPAs — retrofitted with the same camera pod and controls used on unmanned aerial vehicles, such as MQ-1 Predators or MQ-9 Reapers — are typically deployed during U.S. military exercises to train troops for air-land integration combat before they deploy overseas. In a typical training exercise with a U.S. Army brigade, the full-motion video from the Surrogate RPA is live-streamed for simulation and instant decisions on the ground. In its use with FEMA and the response to Hurricane Florence, however, the crew videos the intended targets, then uploads video and extracted still photographs to the Domestic Operations Awareness and Assessment Response Tool Suite system.

Maj. Al Spain, commander of the Green Flag East Flight, said the cameras attached to the Surrogate RPA have infrared capability and can be used at night or when the cloud cover makes visual inspection of the targets difficult. He added that while the crew typically flies at 10,000 feet, the FEMA mission is being carried out around 1,500-2,000 feet.

Aircrews from the Tennessee Wing are testing the new aerial imaging system, which officials say is producing 3-D, 360-degree views over areas damaged by Florence.

Col. Dent Young, Tennessee Wing commander, said the camera pods, developed by WaldoAir and on loan from the Franklin, Tennessee, company, have been installed on two of CAP’s Cessna 182-T planes.

Young said the pods “are collecting high-resolution imagery of areas identified by the Federal Emergency Management Agency to evaluate both the capabilities of the camera system and the extent of the damage to selected areas.”

The pods, Young said, collect images that can be uploaded as individual photos “as well as being processed into three-dimensional, 360-degree views that permit very detailed analysis of any damage.”

WaldoAir describes its system as an “ideal, low-cost imaging solution for agriculture, city planning, pipeline and corridor monitoring along with many other GIS image collections.”

The system, which it markets as XCAM, provides “large-area coverage with up to 17,100 pixels in cross range, while using small, single-engine aircraft,” the company said on its website.

Mission pilot Lt. Col. Ande Boyer, one of 16 ground crew and four aircrew members deployed from the Tennessee Wing for the Florence response, described the WaldoAir system as “the highest-quality and most user-friendly total package imaging and image-processing system that I’ve ever seen.”

The enhancements “make sortie planning and execution a piece of cake,” said Boyer, who serves as the Tennessee Wing’s director of finance.

Satellite imageryCAP aircrews have been flying multiple sorties in the Carolinas since Monday, providing damage assessment imagery and other emergency service missions, such as transportation flights, for FEMA as well as emergency management agencies in both states.

Incident commanders in CAP‘s Middle East Region are keeping up with the flights through a CAP National Radar Analysis Team system that takes a fusion of radar data and Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) data and creates live plane tracks on a Google Earth map through satellite imagery. This imagery is displayed at incident command posts and other agency command posts where rescue and recovery air assets need to be tracked.

The North Carolina Wing conducted a vital communications flight late Sunday, enabling Jacksonville, North Carolina’s 911 system to come back online.

The CAP flight delivered critical parts to help restore the 911 emergency response system as Hurricane Florence continues to affect the area.

The CAP plane’s flight crew – Majs. Jeremy Browner and Andrew Vlack, members of the North Carolina Wing’s Raleigh-Wake Composite squadron – left Raleigh late Sunday evening and returned to Raleigh-Durham International Airport just before midnight.

After receiving the critical parts delivery, Steve Brewer, director of state government affairs at CenturyLink Inc., said, “We have the new card in the system, and services are appearing to come up. Our preliminary test calls have been successful. I'm in contact with Jacksonville E911, and they are starting test calls as well.

“None of this would be possible without the CAP. God bless all involved. Please pass along our appreciation.”

The flight was one of many CAP is making around the state transporting emergency response personnel and supplies into hard-hit areas. The North Carolina Wing is using its 18 planes and nearly 2,000 volunteer members to support reconnaissance flights and other emergency services missions for the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the North Carolina Department of Emergency Management and other federal, state and local governments.

North Carolina Wing members are also:

Staffing the state Emergency Operations Center in Raleigh and the state Department of Emergency Management’s Regional Coordination Center-East in Kinston and Regional Coordination Center-Central in Butner;

Moving disaster relief supplies by both ground and air to the eastern part of the state at the Department of Emergency Management’s request; and

Deploying to PODs – Points of Distribution locations that provide emergency supplies to the public.

South Carolina Wing aircrews are also flying missions today. National Capital, Virginia and Maryland wings are also providing assistance as well, said Col. John Knowles, CAP Middle East Region commander and FEMA liaison officer to the National Response Coordination Center.

Desmarais highlighted funding and partnerships that support orientation flights for CAP, Junior ROTC and ROTC cadets as well as teachers. He also discussed U.S. Air Force funding for CAP's Youth Aviation Initiative, which will launch in fiscal year 2019.

Secretary of the Air Force Heather Wilson provided remarks saying that “We need to provide multiple paths for our nation’s youth to pursue aviation ... to overcome barriers of entry, primarily financial ... to develop a strategy and pathways through alliances between government, industry and consumers.”

The symposium’s themes were “Priming the Pipeline," "Pathways to Proficiency" and "Productive Partnerships.” Representatives from various agencies and industry discussed collaboration and innovation while recognizing efforts across the nation.

CAP has recently begun intensifying its emphasis on aviation training for youth in light of developing pilot shortages among commercial airlines and in the military.

]]>featureThu, 13 Sep 2018 16:54:17 -0500https://content.presspage.com/uploads/1913/500_dcdesmarais.jpg?10000Middle East Region Ready to Respond Quickly after Florence Landfallhttps://www.cap.news/middle-east-region-ready-to-respond-quickly-after-florence-lndfall/
https://www.cap.news/middle-east-region-ready-to-respond-quickly-after-florence-lndfall/Civil Air Patrol’s Middle East Region has stood up an area command post so it can quickly support the CAP wings expected to bear the brunt of Hurricane Florence, including North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia.

Region members from Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia also reported to Federal Emergency Management Agency Headquarters to man the National Response Coordination Center. The center went to Level 2 activation, requiring all liaisons to report on Tuesday. It is now at level 1, the highest level to support the communities and residents expected to be affected by Florence.

Col. John Knowles, Middle East Region commander, said, “I am proud of our airmen who are standing ready to take on whatever missions we are tasked to support, upholding our motto of Semper Vigilans.”

The North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia wings have been relocating aircraft to inland hangars, including U.S. Air Force bases within the Mid-Atlantic states. First Air Force and CAP-USAF have been coordinating support for these missions.

CAP members in the Carolinas are serving at their states’ Emergency Operations Centers. Members of the North Carolina Wing also are staffing the state Department of Emergency Management’s Regional Coordination Center-East in Kinston and Regional Coordination Center-Central in Butner.

In addition, North Carolina Wing personnel are moving disaster relief supplies from Clayton to communities around the eastern part of the Tar Heel State to support FEMA’s Points of Distribution system. That activity will continue after Hurricane Florence, with members handing out needed supplies for those affected by the storm.

Col. R. Jason Bailey, wing commander, said CAP members in his state are ready to serve. “As Hurricane Florence bears down on North Carolina, our members have secured their families and property so they can deploy for days at a time to help others,” he said. “This is truly what Civil Air Patrol is about.”

South Carolina Wing aircrews, meanwhile, continued to fly evacuation route surveys for the Palmetto State. These surveys ensure any vehicle or obstruction is identified and reported to proper agencies on the ground to keep traffic flowing. That has become increasingly important with overnight forecasts that Florence is likely to dip southward once it hits the mainland near the North Carolina-South Carolina border.

On the ground, South Carolina Wing members are working in conjunction with the aircrews to ensure continuous communication during the evacuation flights, which are expected to continue through Thursday.

Knowles said the Middle East Region area command post has been coordinating requests for resources from the affected areas, lining up wings to support missions once the storm passes and reaching out to adjoining CAP regions — the Southeast and Northeast regions — for future needs.

Other wings in the Middle East Region — West Virginia, Maryland, National Capital and Delaware — have offered tie-down space for aircraft as needed and have also been working with their state Emergency Operations Centers.

The first Civil Air Patrol aircrew began flying about 8 a.m. today over Interstate 26 in SouthCarolina to observe traffic flow along the evacuation route. The team is looking for any issues that could impede traffic flow — including stalled vehicles and accidents — and reporting that information back to the South Carolina Emergency Management Division.

Meanwhile, in Richmond, Virginia, members of CAP’s Virginia Wing are operating in “warning” alert status. This came just hours before Gov. Ralph Northam issued a mandatory evacuation notice for 245,000 residents living along the coast.

In Burlington, North Carolina, CAP members are also preparing for a statewide response to Florence. Gov. Roy Cooper declared a state of emergency and President Donald Trump issued a Presidential Disaster Declaration in anticipation of possible damage from the storm.

The wing has established an incident command post at its headquarters in Burlington. In addition, wing personnel began staffing the state’s Emergency Operations Center in Raleigh at 7 a.m. today and are expected to maintain a CAP presence there throughout the duration of the storm and subsequent disaster relief efforts.

The affected wings are all relocating corporate airplanes and vehicles inland for safe storage throughout the storm. Each wing also is prepared to provide aerial and ground team damage assessments as tasked by local, state and federal authorities.